Why Am I King?
by Jidt
Summary: Ichigo has regained his powers after the Winter War, and is still in the Shinigami business. But why is his Hollow suddenly acting like a broken horse? Exactly what happens after the war? No slash, no romance other than some ichiruki -hiatus-
1. Chapter 1

I ran, sprinting down the never ending corridor as the flames chasing me licked my heels. The whole building was burning, and I was still trying to save the stranded souls inside.

The only reason I'd even come in here in the first place was for that stupid hollow, and, while I'd disposed of that little thing easily, the pleas of multiple souls still echoed around me, filling the air with their terror. I didn't even know souls were vulnerable to fire and other 'natural' disasters, but apparently they were. I'd interrogate Rukia about that little fact later.

But for now, I still had a few souls trapped in the inferno. I rushed back in, coughing in the thick smoke. Apparently, I was just as susceptible to the smoke as they were. Great. I dove through the rubble of once used to be a wall, following my ears to the sound of coughing, heaving thick slabs of collapsed ceiling off the source. An old man lay there, his soul chain rusted and creaky, coughing and chocking. I lifted him, throwing him over my shoulders before diving back through the wall to the next source of distress.

With the old soul still slung over my back, I used one hand to pry a large beam off a middle-aged woman... with no soul chain. Crap. That meant she was still alive, and probably had no idea what was saving her... and picking her up. Despite the situation, I had to force down a weak chuckle. I'd always been able to see souls, but I'd often imagined what it would be like to interacting with something I couldn't see. Luckily, (or unluckily, depending on your view), she was unconscious, so there was no struggling or anything, which made my job that much easier.

I'd left my zanpakto outside so I could actually carry the rescuees, so when a large beam fell right in front of the entrance, it caused a rather large problem. I cursed, flinging myself out of the path of the burning wood, and searched for a way out. Nearly all of the doorways were engulfed in flame, and I took the only real option. I jumped out the window. Sure, this sounds okay, but I was on the 4th floor of the apartment building. My legs flailed a bit, not really being used to having nothing underneath them, but I concentrated, solidifying my own reiatsu beneath me, making a little invisible pathway and staircase down to the ground, by the rescue teams Rukia was with.

I made it down with little incident, and ran to Rukia.

"Okay, I think there's about two more left, and you need to find a way to get this woman to some help. She's still alive." I said, depositing the soul next to the seven others I'd already rescued. Luckily, Rukia was in her Gigai, but there was still going to be the problem of explaining how the woman had gotten there. Oh well, manipulation was something she was excellent at. She nodded.

"I think there might be some trouble coming. All these souls, all together, will kinda put out a rather tasty invitation to any hollows in the area. We have to hurry." She said, turning away from me and tending some of the more frantic souls. I looked at her for a second, then nodded.

"Right. I'll get those last two, then I'll come down here and konso these guys and we can get out of here." Rukia nodded, not looking at me, and I jumped straight up, using a little shunpo to get into the window I'd jumped out of.

I stood still for a moment, focusing and listening to the sounds of the fire, and searching for any sounds of distress that would indicate life. I stood there for nearly a full minute, but there was nothing. I sighed. That meant that they were either unconscious, or gone. I thought hard, and after deciding that there was really no other option, I closed my eyes, and contacted my inner hollow. Usually I'd ask old man Zangetsu, but he was currently with Rukia, and I didn't have time to go get him.

_**"Well, what have we here? You're actually asking me for help?" **__T_he bone-white mirror of myself appeared in my mind, smirking. I mentally sighed.

_ "Yeah, I guess. There's some souls stuck here, but I can't sense them, or find them. Is it possible for you to?" _I asked, silently disgusted that I was actually asking for his assistance. I usually just used my mask and force the extra power from him, but the more delicate stuff required his willing assistance. And he knew it.

_**"Well, I don't really see anything in it for me... Unless you actually let me do it myself..."**_He said, still smirking. I snarled.

_ "Not happening." _His grin never left his face as he began walking away.

_**"Well, good luck then King." **_I stared at him, trying to devise a way to get him to help without actually giving him what he wanted. Crap. I guess I had no choice.

_"I have conditions." _He stopped walking, turning back to me with a slightly incredulous look.

"_**And they are...?"**_ He asked, smirking again.

"_You can only do what I need you to. I need you to rescue everyone else in this building, and bring them to Rukia, who's waiting outside. You will NOT hurt them in any way, or cause any damage to the building other than what's necessary to rescue said people, and you can't do anything else after you're done. After everyone's safe, I want my body back. Also, I want to be able to observe everything you're doing. If you try to take over completely, then I'll force my way back and find another way."_ The hollow looked slightly incredulous, but nodded his agreement. I glared at him, sticking my hand out.

"_Deal?" _

_** "Deal... at least for this once."**_ In my mind, my hollow cracked his fingers, rolling his shoulders and looking rather like a boxer getting ready for a fight. Then he looked back at me.

"_**Just a warning, I'm gonna go all the way for this. Don't fight it, or it'll hurt a lot more than necessary."**_ I looked at him with a rather surprised look on my face.

"_Wait a sec-" _Then control was gone, and in its place was pain. Now, just because I'd been … educated in pain worse than the current was no excuse. While I, both mentally and physically writhed as my hollow took over, didn't really have that many coherent thoughts go through my head, I promise none of them was "_Oh, I've had worse."_ No, mainly the only going through my head were a bunch of words even I was a little squeamish saying… thinking. After a few agonizing seconds, I actually relaxed, letting the hollow have his way. And, of course, I blacked out.

When I came to, I opened my eyes and looked around. I was still in my inner world, with its weird horizontal-ness. It was the weirdest sensation though. Usually I can still retain some awareness of my body in here, but right now, I had absolutely no sense of it… only my mental self. I stood and looked around more thoroughly.

There, in the middle of the road… which I guess counted as a wall here, was a giant window. I walked towards it, not being able to make out anything until I was right in front of it.

It was like looking through someone else's eyes, except the perception was much different. Through what I supposed were my hollow's eyes, the world was blue. The shapes looked exactly like they should've, but everything was blue! The line of sight changed as my hollow looked out the window, towards the firemen and other rescue workers. Their colors were similar to the rest, just a lot lighter blue, with hints of green and purple. The view scanned over to Rukia and the souls, and I gasped aloud. Her own figure was alight with reds and oranges, with the other spirits being a less vibrant orange, with little hints of red and blue. My hollow must've heard me in his mind… my mind.

_** "Well? What do you think? This is how hollows see, and is how the free ones hunt. It's kinda like you human's infrared… or something. You see heat, but we see reiatsu. The brighter, the stronger."**_

I looked around, trying to see the source of the voice, but he must've just been projecting his thoughts, because he didn't appear. I decided it was worth a shot to see if it was a two-way communication.

"You always see this way?" I asked aloud, wondering if he could actually hear me.

_**"Mostly, except when I'm looking through your eyes… then it's just boring old human sight. My way gives you a lot more information about an enemy. Their strength, mainly."**_

I watched as my body, which, under his control, had transformed into the full hollow that had taken over in Los Noches… I think. I'd never actually seen it, but Ishida had described it with detail. Of course, at my current view, I could really only see the feet and hands, but I guessed as much. My hollow chuckled, like he could read my thoughts.

_**"I must admit, I kinda like the new look. It's more… beastly than just that boring mask of yours. And the strength, well, I just really don't wanna have to give this up when I'm done." **_

I snarled, and I think he heard me, because he sighed. Watching his progress, I had a thought.

"Wait. You wait that this is a new look. How is that possible? You know you took over in Los Noches and turned me into this… thing." He tutted, a weird sound to echo around your own mind.

_**"I think you might've misunderstood something about me, Ichigo. I am an actual part of your soul. When you die, I do too. What took you over there was pure instinct. Your subconscious combined with my power to do what you needed. Why do you think I haven't tried taking over again? That strength can really only show up if you want it to, now that you know what it is. I've tried, and I just can't do something like that… this, without your say-so."**_

I must've stood there gaping for a while, but it was justified. Had my own hollow just said what I think he did?

"Wait, you know yourself that I'm at my strongest only by using your powers… not that I couldn't beat you to a pulp again if necessary." I warned warily. He just laughed, picking a burning beam easily off a small girl, whose pink soul chain tinkled as he lifted her gently onto his shoulders.

_**"Ichigo, someday your ignorance is going to get us both killed. Well, maybe. When we were separated by Tensa Zangetsu while trying to achieve that final Getsuga, I was able to look at you with my own eyes, with my hollow eyes. Your reiatsu is completely white. There's no red, no orange, no other color. Do you have any idea what that means?"**_

I was completely lost, so I shook my head. Then, realizing he couldn't see me, I said "Not really." He sighed, one of those sighs people give when trying to tell a child something painfully obvious.

_**"Ichigo, not even that old man's reiatsu had any white. That madman with the bells, his was a very bright yellow, but it was tainted with reds and oranges. The old man's was impressive, but it was still just a off-white yellow color. The only other being I've ever heard to have a white reading is the soul king. He's not even allowed in the land of the living, because he'd have so much spiritual pressure, he'd disintegrate regular humans without trying. And he only has a core of white."**_

I closed my eyes from the scene of my hollow rescuing another soul to contemplate this, but I couldn't wrap my mind around it.

"If my 'reading' is so strong, then why can I still be with my friends, with semi-regular people?" I asked, not trying to hide the suspicion in my voice. He laughed again.

_**"Do you remember when you were with Unohana on your way to fight Aizen after your little adventure? You obviously didn't notice, but while she was restoring your reiatsu, she added some kido thing, and stuck it inside you. I don't know what it was, but it let you use your full strength while keeping it strictly inside you."**_

I watched as my hollow swung yet another soul over his shoulders.

"What about after I killed Aizen? I couldn't get near anyone in the Final Getsuga, that's why I took the fight so far away!"

He laughed… again.

_**"Ichigo! Do you really think that even Unohana's kido could contain something like that? It's a miracle you didn't cause a near-nuclear explosion with all that power you were using! And you weren't even going all out! This, of course, is the only reason you kept enough reiatsu to even be able to get it all back."**_

__"Yeah, that's what she said, even though my dad said I'd have to give it all up… but what about now? If I'm back to my full strength, why is everyone still standing?"

_**"Ichigo, you were unconscious for nearly a month. Do you really think Unohana wouldn't take that opportunity to suppress you again?" **_

I blinked as my hollow jumped through a different window, this one facing away from everyone in front. He landed easily on the balls of his feet, balancing there for a second before straightening up and carefully laying all the unconscious souls on the ground around him. In my inner world, his regular self appeared, with the full hollow mask pushed to the side of his head.

_**"The only reason you're still King is because I'm not suicidal. I'll take what you give me now… even if it's just for this long."**_ And with that little parting, he faded, and I blacked out again as pain stabbed through the hole in my chest, sealing it.


	2. Chapter 2

When I came to, my hollow told me that I'd apparently been out for about two minutes.

_** "Look King, if we're gonna be making a habit out of this thing, we need to practice. I can't have you passing out every time you freaking change!" **_

I smirked a little. It seemed like my old hollow was back. Whether that was a good thing… well, I guess I'd see eventually. Hopefully before anything drastic was caused by him.

At any rate, I guessed I'd just play along with him for now. My little venture into the world of a hollow had, surprisingly, been rather eye-opening.

I gathered the spirits over my shoulder, sagging slightly at their combined weight. I jogged around to building to where Rukia was waiting, and noticed the live woman was gone.

"So everything went okay with her then?" I asked, gently depositing the bodies with the others. She glared at me in a way I was very used to.

"No thanks to you! Why couldn't you've just given her to the people who could actually help?" I glared right back.

"Because I couldn't exactly walk up to them carrying her! They can't see me, remember?" By the time I'd finished my 'explanation', we were nose to nose over one of the unconscious souls. She looked at our noses and blushed, retreating. I stifled a snigger, but it died when I saw the look on her suddenly somber face. I quirked an eyebrow.

"What?"

"Ichigo…" She began tentatively. "Did anything… happen when you were getting these last three?"

My eyebrow came back down to join its friend in a scowl.

"Rukia… I don't really think…" But stopped as her fist connected with my jaw. It didn't really hurt, but the suddenness of it knocked me back a few steps. As I stared at her incredulously, I heard my hollow snigger in my head. Rukia stood there for a few moments before turning away from me.

"Just konso these souls, then meet me at Urahara's." And then, almost as quick as her mood change, she shunpo'd away. (This really wasn't that fast actually… I could've caught her in about two steps, but I wasn't going to be the one to tell her that… I value my life.)

I sighed and got to work. Since most of them were unconscious, their passage was easy, but I did have a small struggle from a young child's spirit. Forcibly konso-ing him was difficult, not physically, but emotionally. No child should have to move on when they're that young. After he'd faded away, I all but collapsed on the curb. Physically, I was fine. Emotionally, I was okay too. In fact, I don't really know why I felt so weak all of the sudden. Apparently, my hollow noticed.

_**"Just need a little breather here King. You may not feel it, but changing's kinda tough." **_

While this confused me to no end, I did take a five minute break before shunpo-ing out to Urahara's Candy Shop.

By the time I'd gotten there (I took it slow. If it was urgent, I'd have been there in a minute flat.) Urahara, Tessai, and Rukia had all gathered around the table with tea and, apparently, gossip. Urahara was just finishing a story when I walked in.

"And that's how baby seals took down the 31st arrancar!" I stopped walking as my brain temporarily shut down. When it started back up, Urahara was smiling and waving his fan at me, indicating that I should take a seat.

"Welcome to my humble home, Ichigo! Please, have some delicious tea! Tessai made it!" I did as asked, and then asked my own question.

"Why aren't you having any?" Urahara smiled again, and then hid behind his fan.

"Tessai made it."

I gave the dark tea a weird look, and set it down. Rukia mirrored me, although half her tea was already gone. She wouldn't look at me.

"Ichigo," Urahara began. "Would you follow me to the basement for a sec? I gotta show you something!" I gave him a rather dry grin, but followed him as he stood up and went over to the trap door that led to his underground… cavern thingy. I followed him down the ladder, and walked behind him as he led me to the very middle of the place. I looked around.

"Hey Urahara, what did you want to show me?" There was absolutely nothing out of the normal… for here anyways.

"Sorry Ichigo." I spun on the spot at Rukia's voice, but stopped as Tessai, who stood beside her, muttered something and put his hands together. Four thick black cables came out of nowhere and wrapped themselves around my arms and legs, the pulled my hard down to the floor. Bolts fell from the sky, embedding themselves in the ground through the cables, and five pillars also fell from nowhere, landing on my limbs and back. Tessai finished by putting a golden barrier about a ten foot radius around me, like a giant dome.

My hollow snarled in my mind, but I held him back from doing anything stupid. I looked up at Rukia.

"Rukia, what's going on?" She looked at me sadly, as did Tessai and Urahara.

"Ichigo, you can't exactly hide a reiatsu like yours. Which means, when your hollow takes over, we can feel it. And don't tell us you were just using your mask, because that's a totally different feeling." Urahara said, his had pulled low to obscure his eyes, cane in hand.

I stared at them, slightly incredulous.

"You really think I lost control? Really?" Rukia glared at me, but it was half-hearted.

"Ichigo, you said yourself. You'd never let him take over. So, we really have no option other than it was forced."

"And," Urahara added. "If you're losing control of him, he has enough power to destroy everyone in this town, and most of the Soul Society." Tessai nodded.

I stared at them, at their sad faces, and laughed. Now, I admit that I sounded a little crazy, but really. And it wasn't a sarcastic, scary laugh, it was a 'holy crap I'm peeing my pants' laugh. And, of course, they stared at me like I was mad.

"Ichigo…" Rukia started, and the fear in her eyes brought me down to Earth… a little.

"You guys…have it… all wrong!" I gasped, trying to recover, which was hard with five pillars of steel on top of me. Once I got my breath back, I told them what had happened, and most of what my hollow had said. (I left out the whole 'you're freaking strong' part though… unnecessary information.) When I'd finished, Urahara was nodding slightly, but Tessai and Rukia still looked doubtful.

"Ichigo, do you really believe you've got him completely controlled? I mean, what if he went wild? How would you stop him?"

"He won't, and I'd beat him to a bloody pulp if he tried." Rukia still looked doubtful. So did Tessai. Urahara on the other hand, nearly got a head full of glass as a metaphorical light bulb of an idea exploded over him.

"I got it!" He yelled happily, then ran off somewhere, and was back in second, with the cutout Youroichi had trained me for banki with. Zangetsu, from his place leaning against a rock a bit away, shivered slightly. I looked at it.

"Here we go! If both your zanpakto and your hollow live in your soul, you should be able to manifest both!" I stared at him, but frowned when a little fact reared in my mind.

"Urahara, I had to stab Zangetsu into that thing to manifest him. How the heck am I going to manifest my hollow using that thing?" Urahara smiled his little evil smile, then jumped through the barrier and smacked my on the top of my head with the stupid cutout! I swore at him, and then looked up as the stupid thing started changing shape, and there he was. My hollow stood there, smirking for all he was worth, exactly as he appeared in my mind, just with a red rope across his chest.

_**"Hey there King! Ooh, quite a pickle we've gotten ourselves in, hmmm?" **_I was unamused. Suddenly, he grunted as he was forced down by the same incantation that held me.

_** "Hey! You bastard! Let me out! Whatever strawberry here did, not my fault!" **_I glared at him, and he smirked right back. I'd begun to believe it was physically impossible for him to have any other expression on his face. Urahara cleared his throat, and we both looked at him.

"Well, that's slightly creepy." He said, referring to the two Ichigos glaring at him. "Anyways, You… uh… Hichigo!" He pointed at the hollow, who showed he actually had other facial expressions and looked at Urahara, incredulous and slightly pissed.

_**"What the he-?" **_He stopped as Urahara poked him in the forehead with his cane.

__"Hollow Ichigo is long, so I combined them." He bent down in front of newly named Hichigo, who glared at him. "Anyways, is it true? Are you really planning on working with Ichigo? Actually listening to what he says?" Hichigo rolled his eyes.

_**"I don't really have a choice." **_The three observers all tilted their heads as one in confusion. Hichigo sighed.

_** "Look, I value my life, and if I did anything, this guy over here,"**_ He jerked his head in my direction. _**"Would beat me to whatever hell I'm destined for. I'm smart enough to know not to mess with the most powerful freaking Shinigami! I mean, not even the freaking King of the Soul Society could match this freak! Why else would I call him 'King'? Why not-" **_

"Hey!" I yelled, glaring at Hichigo, who shrugged, smirking. Urahara shuffled sideways to me, now poking my head with the cane.

"Hey Ichigo, I know it's really none of my business,"

"When has that ever stopped you?" I muttered under my breath.

"But exactly what makes this here hollow believe you're that powerful? I mean, the King is confined to an alternate dimension because of his reiatsu, but I…" He stopped and looked down at me, surprise written all over his face. "Oh my." He said.

"What?" Rukia asked worriedly from outside the barrier.

"I can't feel a single lick of reiatsu from you. None. But… I know that kido. Stay still for a second." I squirmed a little as he reached down; finger outstretched, and touched my forehead and muttered something. I felt a shock of electricity bolt from my head to his finger, and the mighty Urahara Kisuke was thrown against the side of the barrier so hard, it knocked his hat off. Tessai was also thrown as Urahara was forced through the barrier, and both flew another thirty feet before landing with loud separate thuds. As the kido restraining me and Hichigo vanished, I looked at Rukia's worried expression, and both me and my hollow shunpo-ed as quick as we could to the two makeshift cannonballs.

Urahara was groaning, (wimp), but they were both fine… or seemed to be. Rukia showed up seconds after me and helped the two to their feet, since I didn't want to see what would happen if I tried to touch either. When she suddenly gasped, I looked over to see Urahara's hand covered in burns. Not just red, but angry blisters and burnt skin. I looked away as Rukia began healing his hand. Urahara sat there while Tessai went for some bandages. He looked at me, who was standing off to the side, away from the two with Hichigo.

"Don't worry Ichigo. If anything, this has you completely cleared!" He grinned, and I looked at him like he was crazy. He pulled out his fan with his uninjured hand and waved it in front of his face.

"Ichigo, I think I agree with Hichigo. If I had fully released the seal, I don't think there'd be much of me left! I've even met the Soul King, and I only got some first degree burns shaking his hand, unsealed! Unohana truly is amazing, to be able to seal all that power." He closed his eyes as Rukia finished all she could do and Tessai returned and began wrapping his had.

"Urahara… You did reseal it… right?" I asked tentatively. He grinned.

"Of course. Wouldn't want you disintegrating random people, now would we?" I scowled.

"Ichigo, if all your reiatsu is sealed, how are you actually fighting and continuing your job?" Urahara answered for me.

"Well my dear, Unohana is extremely skilled in sealing Kido. In fact, she's the one who made Kenpachi Zaraki's eye patch! Of course this is a whole new level. From what I can tell, she somehow made it so only Ichigo can sense his own reiatsu. Kind of like one of my sealing gigai! Of course, he can't use his full power like this, but hopefully, he won't need to!"

I looked at Hichigo, who shrugged.

_**"He's got a point. Anything so big you gotta go all out, the freaking world's gonna end. Anyways, you don't need me, and I'm cold, so see ya'!"**_ And Hichigo abruptly disappeared, leaving the cutout to fall to the ground. I was a little taken aback by his sudden departure and entrance into my mind, but shrugged it off and turned to Rukia, who was dusting herself off as she stood. I went over to her and glared. She froze, and seemed to shrink.

__"Well, I was worried!" She said, looking apprehensive. I smirked, and picked her up, holding her arms to her side and lifting her to eye level. She squirmed, which I found hilarious.

"Rukia, when you're scared, you get small. You're already too tiny for that, so don't be."

She stared at me in shock as I set her down again, then stomped on my food and stormed off.

_"Freaking women; they're all insane." _I though, then Hichigo laughed.

_**"You know, you've been talking to a voice in your head for a while now. I wouldn't exactly call you all that sane either King." **_

I resisted the urge to smack myself, and followed Rukia, Urahara, and Tessai up the ladder.


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N_

_ Hey everyone! I'm trying to get away from constant author's notes, but I was asked a question in my one (and so far only…) review. For those of you not aware, and perhaps I wasn't clear and I apologize, but when Hichigo took over, he actually turned into the Hollow form that killed Uliquiorra. This includes the hollow hole in his chest. So, there you go! If anyone has anymore questions, feel free to ask! _

_ Also, I'm in deep crap with my parents, so I'm sneaking this on. Be warned, sporadic and probably long updates for a while. _

I followed Rukia back to my house where she'd taken an apparently permanent residence. My dad, being the idiot he was, had even knocked out a wall and built Rukia her own little room. Ironically, it was the same wall that the hollow had burst through the night I first met her. Freaking universe hates me.

Anyways, we were on the front porch, about to go through the door, when she pulled my hand away from the knob.

"Ichigo, I have a quick question. I've been wondering for a while…" She paused, and I tilted my head and motioned for her to continue. She sighed.

"Your hollow, he isn't really a real hollow, is he?"

Well, that's something I'd never really considered. I'd first gotten my hollow when I was trying to get my Shinigami powers back, but I'd won that fight.

I paused to consider this sudden concern when Hichigo exhaled angrily. I smirked a little, and entered my inner world. There he was, sitting on a sideways window, pouting as Zangetsu, who was grinning wickedly, jabbed him with the sword. I was a little taken back, and so were they when they noticed me. It was really funny actually. Zangetsu hid the sword behind his back and started whistling innocently, and Hichigo glared at him, then at me. I looked over at the old man, who had disappeared the sword and had his normal, serious look on his face.

_"Well? I'm assuming you heard the question. Is Hichigo actually a hollow?" _I asked, trying not to snicker at the mentioned 'hollow's' previous predicament.

_"Ichigo, when you regained your powers, you overpowered the hollow that had taken over you. People have accomplished this in the past, but you are the only one I've ever heard of keeping his hollow." _ Zangetsu explained… kinda. It was still confusing.

"_But why? Why did I keep it? … I mean him." _I corrected as a withering glare found my eyes. This time Hichigo himself answered.

_**"Look King, you think a smart hollow, meaning me, would give up the chance to have access to all that power you got? I mean, really." **_Hichigo stood and smirked, shrugging.

_"That still doesn't answer my question though…" _

_**"I'll admit, I'm not the conventional hollow. I'm still here. Even the Vizard's hollows disappeared when they beat them, which is why they will never be able to go full hollow. Because I stayed, you still can, and have. I'm a hollow, but I'm a hollow with the brains to not become a monster. Instinct is best served on intelligence. It's the basis of life, yes, but what is life if you can't enjoy it?" **_And with that, he turned, and I faded back into my body with a wave to Zangetsu, who nodded back.

Rukia was standing there when I opened my eyes again, a rather concerned look on her face. As I looked at her, that concern turned to anger.

"You idiot! You completely spaced out on me!" She lifted her hand, but I grabbed it and held it back with ease.

"Listen, I was talking to the old man and Hichigo, and from what I got, he's basically a hollow that decided it liked its digs, so he stayed with me. I have no clue what else is going on!" I scowled, releasing her hand, which fell back to her side. She studied me for a minute, then nodded as if satisfied and turned back to the house and opened the door.

"IIIIICCCCCCHHHHHIIIIII- Oomph!" Of course, my idiot dad had tried, yet AGAIN, to jump me, but Rukia was used to it. She stepped out of the way, grabbing Isshin's foot as she moved, slamming him into the ground. She looked down at him.

"You know, for a former Shinigami, you kinda suck." I face-palmed. That smug little smirk of hers was going to be the death of her. Of course my dad took it as a challenge. He jumped up, recovering quickly.

"Well little lady, how's about we test that theory of yours, hmm?" He asked, face-to-face with the unimpressed Rukia. Her non-existent enthusiasm did little to dull his spirits, however. He just grinned that idiotic grin of his and dove for her, much faster than before. Not quite shunpo, but anyone oblivious to its techniques would've mistaken it for that. Of course, to me it was like slow motion… kind of. It was like my senses slowed down for that instant, and I could even see him taking painfully long to even blink. I smirked and decided to test my slow-mo theory. I walked, not ran, walked, in front of him as he fell and Rukia tried to dodge. I picked her up gently, walking about five feet to the left and set her on the grass before I walked back to my dad and flicked him on the nose.

It was like I punched him in the face while in banki. I saw his face cave slightly, eyes wide in surprise as he appeared to speed up in the opposite direction. Everything was back to normal speed as he flew through the closed door and out the back wall, taking a table and a couple dining chairs with him. I winced. Oops.

I looked over at Rukia, who was staring at me, surprise and maybe even a little fear etched in her eyes. I gave her a sad little grin.

"Sorry; just wanted to try something. Next time, he's all yours." I walked over to her to help her up. Her eyes softened and she took my hand as I pulled her up.

She must've flown about twenty feet in the air before I'd realized what had happened and flew up to catch her. She looked at me again, and we both cracked up, nearly falling back to the ground again as we rolled with laughter in midair.

That stopped suddenly as I remembered my dad. He may be an idiot, but he was still my dad. I glanced at Rukia, catching her eye and pulling her out of our shared fit. Her eyes widened.

"Isshin!" She dove down to the back of my house, me close behind. When we could actually see the extent of the damage to the house and my dad, I winced again. The house had a large, Isshin-shaped hole in the back wall, and some small rubble was still bouncing around.

I turned to my dad, who was sporting a large, Ichigo's fist-shaped bruise over his entire face. Both eyes were swollen, and his nose looked flattened. Shit. I'd just flicked him too!

His unconscious body was soon under the care of Rukia, at least until we could find Orihime. She glanced at me, and smiled, just a little.

"He'll be fine. You Kurosaki's are to tough for your own good. I'll take over here while you go get Orihime." I nodded, and turned back to the house.

I had to make my way through the mess to my room before finding Kon.

"What was that?" Was all he had time to yell before I hit him with my substitute badge, caught the candy, and, after a quick wipe on my shirt, popped it in my own mouth.

I fell out of my body and jumped out the window before Kon could say anything.

"Backyard!" Was all I yelled before shunpo-ing to Orihime's place. To his credit, Kon didn't argue. … Or maybe he did, but I was already to far away to hear it.

It took me about a minute to get to Orihime's apartment, but when I got there, it was empty. I swore, and sent out a little burst of reiatsu we sometimes used to alert everyone about something. Unfortunately, I was apparently still pumped from my little matrix trick from earlier, so the amount was a bit much. And by a bit much, I mean the ceiling got cracks, and so did the stone fireplace. I winced, rubbing my head, and was wondering how on earth I'd be able to pay for that when Ishida, Chad (Sado), and Orihime showed up at the door, all ready for a fight. As they looked around, they all relaxed, and Ishida glared at me.

"Kurosaki, didn't we agree to only do that in an emergency?" He said in that little tone of his. I glared right back.

"It kinda is. Orihime, I need your help." She nodded gravely, and then gained an extremely confused look as she took in her room. She raised a finger.

"Not that it's not a cool look or anything, but did anyone else notice the cracks in my ceiling?" I paled, and then raised my hands as Ishida glared harder at me.

"Not my fault! Well, it is, but…" I stammered as he advanced. I stepped back a little.

"Listen to the whole story when we get there, but we kinda need to go." Ishida stopped glaring, albeit reluctantly, and nodded. I ran out the door with them following close behind.

It was painfully slow, even though when we got there the rest of them were all gasping, except for Orihime, who immediately called her fairies and began healing my dad's face.

"Kurosaki," Ishida asked quietly next to me. "What exactly happened to your father?" I rubbed my head.

"Well, he was trying to jump Rukia… and I kinda flicked him in the nose." I held my hands up in defense automatically. "I didn't mean to!" I nearly yelled, but realized that he was looking at me in a sort of confused awe.

"You did this by flicking him on the nose?" I shrugged. He studied me, and then frowned.

"What?"

"Ichigo." Chad said, startling me. I hadn't expected him to hear any of our little conversation, but I guess I had been wrong.

"Yeah?" I turned to him.

"Did your dad ever tell you his rank?" He asked, and I shook my head.

"I told him I'd let him tell me when he-" I was cut off by Ishida, who pushed his glasses up as he spoke.

"Your dad told us while you were with Urahara not four hours ago. We were looking for you, and he told us where you were, then Orihime asked what rank he used to be." I looked at him, waiting for more, when Chad spoke again.

"Your father told us he was Captain of the Royal Guard. It's a special force made of Shinigami too strong for just regular duty. And he was their Captain for nearly five-hundred years before he gave up most of his power to marry your mom."

I stared at them both in awe, mainly because of what they'd told me, but also at how much my dad had told them. Also, there was maybe a little shock that Chad had said that much at once. Just a little.

As I finally took in all of what they'd just told me, I stared down at my hand in shock and maybe a little dismay.

"And I just knocked him out with a single hit." I whispered, but Ishida snorted rather derisively.

"Not even that." I frowned and looked at my dad, who was still being healed.

"I'll be right back." I said hurriedly, and then shunpo-ed away before any of them could say anything.

I made it to the river in about thirty seconds flat. When I stopped, I noticed the grass still struggling against the rush of air I'd displaced. I sat down, still a Shinigami, and meditated, entering my inner world.

When I 'woke up', freaking Hichigo was bent over my face, smiling wickedly. I swear I did NOT scream like a little girl, even though he was laughing his face off as I got to my feet. I frowned, then it turned into a death-stare as I sad Zangetsu holding his stomach as he tried not to laugh as well.

_"I'm guessing you know why I'm here?"_ I said, glaring at him and Hichigo. They both looked at me, still stifling giggles, and nodded.

_"Ichigo, there's actually something we were going to tell you later, but now that you're here…"_ Zangetsu paused, as if considering his next words carefully. He looked at the hollow, who nodded and turned to me, ridiculous grin still on his face.

"_**Well King, from what we can tell, the seal Unohana put on you is breaking. You're just too strong!"**_

Zangetsu nodded.

_"From our best guess, you have about a month before it breaks completely, which means you can only stay in the World of the Living another week before you must leave to the Soul Society."_

They both ignored the shock on my face as they continued.

_**"Of course, once he does get there, the bond will probably break sooner, seeing as he'll have more power there…" **_Hichigo said, putting a hand on his chin in a near comical fashion. Zangetsu mirrored him as he nodded, then turned back to me and held up a finger.

_"I will revise the time. My best guess, you have about two weeks until the seal breaks. One here, and about four days in the Soul Society."_

I stared at them in horror as I tried to figure a way out of this.

_"But… what will happen when it does break?" _I asked, looking at the old man pleadingly. He sighed.

_"Once again, this is only a hypothesis, but most likely, the dimension containing the King of the Soul society will open, and you will be forced in. There, the King will be forced off his throne to make way for the strongest being in all known worlds."_ He pointed at me… "_You."_


	4. Chapter 4

I sat down. Hard.

_"What?" _I asked, feeling shell-shocked; not really aware of anything, but everything making itself known at the same time.

_"Ichigo, the rule of the worlds is determined by strength. That's why Aizen needed the Hogyoku. It increased his strength to that above that of the Soul King. And you defeated him. The fact is that at your full strength now, not even the Head Captain could remain standing in your presence, or anywhere near you. Any being lower than a Vice-Captain would be disintegrated and they wouldn't know why, because your power would be so out of the comprehension. If you were in the human world, the earth itself would shake and quiver in your presence, and the apocalypse would seem nigh."_

Hichigo butted in here, smirking.

_**"Not that that wouldn't be fun, but if the earth was destroyed, there would be a mirror effect on both Hueco Mundo and the Soul Society. Ichigo, at the level you would be without Unohana's limiter, the universe itself would be destroyed. You're a freaking God, King!" **_

I fainted to the sound of Zangetsu's sigh and Hichigo's maniacal laughter.

When I arrived back in the World of the Living, a large crater had formed where I'd been accidentally releasing too much reiatsu. I nearly screamed in frustration. Of course, my emotions had an impact on my reiatsu, which grew as the crater grew too. I took a deep shaky breath and calmed down a little before heading back to the others.

When I arrived, my Dad had regained consciousness and was laughing along with the others. The light feeling in the air died when I was noticed. Rukia stood up, and looked at me, concern obvious on her face as she walked to me. She reached out…

_**"Hey King, maybe you shouldn't…" **_But Hichigo was cut off as Rukia laid her hand on my shoulder. A shock flew between us, sending her flying.

She landed next to my dad, about ten feet away, and I turned away from the looks of sharp disbelief that were nearly tangible on their way from everyone else there to me.

"Guys…" I started, not looking at anyone. "I… I can't stay here that much longer." My shaky words were met by sharp gasps of disbelief from everyone… except my dad, who was chuckling slightly. I turned to question his sanity as he stood up and started walking to me.

"Son, maybe you're exaggerating just a bit…" He stopped walking and talking as Zangestu, who was still strapped to my back, began glowing, and manifested. The old man appeared between me and my dad, stopping him.

_"Isshin Kurosaki, as much of an honor it is to meet you, the situation demands precedence."_ My dad nodded, suddenly serious, as Zangetsu continued.

_"Even if he were given the proper training, if Ichigo attempted to fully contain his full ability without the limiter placed upon him by Captian Unohana, he'd die from the strain, and take many with him in the following cataclysmic explosion of reiatsu."_ My dad's face fell as he nodded again, this time much slower, and sadder. I kept my eyes on the ground, and the rest of the group there was staring at me as the sword continued to explain, this time to them.

"_As Ichigo's friends, you must feel much concern for him, but I will warn you. In the next few days before he must leave, do not attempt to touch him. In fact, as time progresses, the more distance, the better. As the seal fades, the amount of reiatsu will grow, and soon even being near him will be dangerous."_

Everyone seemed lean away from me as Zangetsu finished speaking and disappeared. I noticed, but decided not to say anything, just continued staring at the ground.

"Ichigo…" My dad began, and everyone, including me, looked at him.

"Exactly what did I miss?"

When I answered him, my voice was strained, and a little shaky.

"A lot."

I must've talked for over half an hour as I told them everything I'd learned from my sword and hollow.

My dad only sighed as I got to the part about the whole Soul King and the assessment of my apparent future.

I finished, and he was the first to break the silence.

"What about Urahara? Couldn't he do anything?" He asked, but stopped from saying any more as the shopkeeper himself appeared via shunpo, leaning on my dad's back, with Yuroichi, in cat form, on his shoulder. He smiled, and the cat blinked.

"Sorry Isshin. Unohana's seals are the best. In all honestly, reiatsu-sealing gigai are the closest things I have to anything like what she can do, and trying to shove Ichigo in one of those would have the same effect as him trying to contain his power himself."

I sighed, then my eyes widened and I grabbed the hilt of Zangetsu as an unexpected presence appeared.

" 'bout time, Kisuke." A sarcastic voice said quietly from behind me, and I turned to see Shinji Hirako frowning. Orihime squeaked a little in surprise, but that was really the only other reaction to his sudden appearance. Urahara sighed.

"Yeah, had to check some stuff before I came over. Still had perfect timing though!" He smiled, and Yuroichi rolled her eyes. I looked at the Vizard.

"Shinji, what are you doing here? I thought you all took off after the fight!" I questioned, looking at him curiously… and maybe a bit accusingly. No one had heard anything at all from the Vizards once the war ended. In fact, this may have been one of the first times anyone's even seen one of them since.

"Nothing really, just bouncin' around, then I was ya'll here and decided to swing by. Turns out, Kisuke's not the only one with good timing. Heard the whole thing." He moved forward and almost clapped me on the back, but stopped himself, settling instead for an awkward thumbs-up.

"Congrats on the power kid." He said, sounding sad, like he actually understood everything that was going on. Maybe he did.

He looked away, towards my dad, and everyone jumped as he yelled "Isshin!" and tackled my old man. My dad was just as surprised as we were.

"W-what?" He stammered. Shinji stood up, glaring at him, but with a huge grin still on his face.

"Oh come on. This is pathetic." He sighed, poking my dad between his eyes. "All that time in the guard must've screwed wit' your little brain. I told ya', ya' shoulda' just taken the limiter." He trailed off as my dad stood up too, and then punched Shinji in his much-abused face. The Vizard flew a few feet before landing on his butt with no permanent damage.

"Shiji, you crazy bastard! Where the hell have you been?" My dad yelled, towering over the blond, who still had that stupid grin. The rest of us, excluding Urahara and Yuroichi, were at a complete loss.

"Uh…" I started, but before I could actually say anything, they both rounded on me, Shinji still on the floor.

"Why didn't you tell me your dad way Kurosaki Isshin?" Shinji yelled, at the exact same time my dad yelled:

"How come you didn't tell me you knew Shinji?"

My dad sounded pretty pathetic, so I decided to answer the Vizard first.

"Exactly when did you ask?" I said, and the finger he'd been pointing at me drooped.

"Precisely. Now, do you mind explaining?" I asked as I gestured to the two of them. They looked at each other, and shrugged.

"Shinji was basically my adopted brother in the Soul Society, about four hundred years ago. Of course, that was after he was already a Captian, and I'd all but destroyed an entire section of the Rugonkai just by showing up…"

I could almost see the lightbulb over Rukia's head.

"Wait! You mean the abandoned district?"

My dad nodded, smirking.

"Yup! Shinji found me not five minutes after I'd died and got sent there. He gave me some private training, and after about five years I got sent off to the guard. Haven't seen him since."

Shinji finally got off the ground and stood, also smirking.

"Crazy idiot. Had to blow 'imself up over an' over before he could even manifest his Zanpakto. Pretty good at everything once he got a hang o' it though. Even Kido." Which surprised me, seeing as every attempt I'd ever made at trying Kido ended in lots of smoke and pain. Shinji must've noticed, because he chuckled.

"Sorry kid. You've really got no chance of getting' any type of Kido down. You'd just blow everything up, trying to control your reiatsu to that degree." I sighed, and he kept talking.

"Of course, wit' how strong ya' are now, any Kido wouldn't affect you none… show 'em Urahara." My eyes widened as I took in the implications of what Shinji had just said, and held up my hands.

"Hold on a sec…" But Urahara just grinned wickedly as he pointed at me, and a bolt of white fore shot from his finger, straight at me.

"Hey!" I yelled, holding my arms in front of me to catch the blast. The fire dissipated with a soft fizzle. I lowered my arms, and looked down on the slightly smoking hair on my left forearm, and then shrugged. Shinji smirked.

"Told ya'!" I glared at him, exasperated. His face fell as he suddenly became serious. He looked at me.

"Hey, this whole King thing. You really goin' through with it?" I sighed.

"It's not like I have that much of a choice, or so I've been told." Shinji rubbed his chin.

"Good point…" But stopped as Ishida popped in suddenly, and actually raised his hand. I rolled my eyes as Urahara pointed at him cheerfully. Ishida pushed his glasses up as he spoke.

"Exactly how would Kurosaki actually become King? It's not like he's got any skill for that…"

Everyone, except me, sniggered. Shinji smirked as he explained.

"I've really only heard of this happenin', never actually seen it or nothing. Anyway, every so often a super-powerful soul comes along, and gets sent to the Royal Dimension. Usually, they jus' get shoved in the guard, but I've heard a story of someone who actually rivaled the King. Basically, he faced off against the guards, then the Captian, then the King 'imself. Whoever had more reiatsu one, and ruled they way they wanted. The old King had nearly brough' all of the Soul Society to ruin, so when the new guy won, no one complained. And that was abou' four thousand years ago. Tha' guy's still King." He finished.

"What happened to the old King?" Orihime asked, also raising her hand. Rukia looked just as exasperated as me that time.

"From what I've heard, when he was kicked out, he turned into a Hollow. … In fact, If I remember righ', that second espada, Barragan, right?" I nodded. "Yup. That was 'im!"

Everyone gaped. The self-proclaimed former King of Hueco Mundo had once been King of the Soul Society? Weird.

This time it was Rukia that asked a question, but without the hand.

"Shinji… is that what's gonna happen to the current King?" I looked at her. I hadn't considered that. Shinji laughed.

"Probably not. If Ichigo really goes all out, that old guy won't make it out of the dimension before he looses all his power and disintegrates."

I looked at him in a daze while my mind went over every possible way to get out of this. Absolutely nothing came to mind, and when I looked around, no one else seemed to know anything either. I frowned.

"So, basically, without any choice, I'm going to be forced out of my world, be kicked out of the Soul Society, and kill a King whose doing a good job so I can take over something I don't want?"

Shinji shrugged.

"Apparently."

I groaned.

I couldn't sleep in my house anymore with Karin and Yuzu still there, but that didn't stop me from saying good-bye to them. It hurt me, not being able to hug them, to re-assure them that I'd be back, that I'd be okay, because I wouldn't lie to them. Karin, of course, tried to take it without crying, but when Yuzu broke down when I had to back away so she wouldn't get hurt, Karin seemed to finally have enough. I left them with my dad, all on the floor crying, and left Kon with them.

Before I left him though, I told him one thing.

"Protect them. I don't care how else you use my body, since it's not really mine anymore, but whatever you do, don't let any of them get hurt." Kon nodded, silent tears streaming down plushie his face.

"I will." Was all he said as I left. I didn't look back.

I showed up to Urahara's shop later in the day after walking around aimlessly for a while, trying to figure some stuff out. I never managed that, but I went there when the sun set anyways. Urahara led me downstairs, to the underground area I'd first gotten my true Shinigami powers. He showed me a large bunker-like place.

"Here. I've put some special Kido into the metal that should stop most of your reiatsu from leaking out of it. If you need anything, there's a phone, and the others said they'd be here tomorrow. Try to get some sleep." He said, the closed the door, leaving me alone in a military-like room that wasn't mine. I didn't get any sleep that night.


	5. Chapter 5

_A/N_

_Sorry, still trying to stay away from these, but I got to speak for a moment. Just want to thank TraLaLa for all the reviews, and recommend an account so I can thank personally. Also, this chapter is dedicated to my pet ferret, Nibbler, who passed away this evening after a long sickness. Here's to him, an awesome cuddle buddy for over eight years. Hope you're chasing some awesome butterflies and feeling good as new. R.I.P. Nibbler the Nibloneon. _

I didn't get any sleep that night.

In fact, most of the night I spent trying to think of ways out of my current 'destiny', as Zangetsu calmly called it. I ignored him and Hichigo after that, and they seemed to take it as a hint and stopped bothering me. Of course, then I just laid there with nothing to do but think for about nine hours. I really didn't. Thinking would've been a bad idea, seeing as thinking would be accompanied by anger, and I didn't want to degrade the seal any more rapidly than its current rate. If I could control it enough, I might just have a chance to stay here a little longer. Although, the more I tried not thinking about it, the more I realized staying might not be such a good idea.

I vehemently cursed Urahara with every fiber of my being as the first 'visitor' to my little bunker was forced to sit behind reiatsu-proofed glass when he visited. Chad was quite possibly my oldest friend, other than Tatsuki, but he'd endured everything with me. So it hurt that much worse when we were forced to communicate through a small speaker. Not that either of us said much. All we had to do was look at each other to know the other's pain. I don't think I could've said anything really… Chad had never demanded much, but put up with so much. I only said "Thanks.", but he seemed to get so much out of it. I think it was the only time I'd ever seen Chad cry. Nothing big, just a single tear rolling down his cheek as he nodded and stood. He walked away without looking back.

Uryu Ishida was next, and I think it was then I finally realized just how much he'd grown. He smiled at me as he sat down, and I could actually see the steadfastness and confidence in his bearing, even though it seemed he was carrying the weight of the world. I wondered if that was how I'd looked, months ago. Probably. He talked about nothing, and I didn't really listen. He talked about school, and sewing, and his grades. I'm glad he didn't try to touch the more sensitive subjects. I enjoyed that little resemblance of normalcy. He ended up talking about his crush on Orihime, and I smirked. Finally, he'd caught on. I encouraged him, and he blushed. After he'd finished, he stood, and, back to me, said "The Shinigami know you, they look up to you, even though I don't know why, the will follow you. Try to make things better for them, and the other spirits. Heaven should be heaven. Make it that." I sat speechless as he left, and he didn't look back either.

Keigo and Mizuiro came, and talked about like Ishida had. Normal stuff, nothing serious. When they left, they both had silent tears, but said nothing.

Tatsuki was with Orihime, and she comforted her friend as she tried to speak through her sobs. I tried to comfort her, but there really wasn't much I could do. Tatsuki seemed to understand her though, and basically translated. I told them both the generic stuff, be happy, ect., but I don't think it worked. When they left, both were crying.

As I waited for the inevitable, I hated myself for making even my strongest friends feel like they did. Nothing they could've done, barring killing me themselves, could've prevented this, but they didn't seem to accept that. It seems like they'd picked up some of my own problems. I'd come to accept, grudgingly, that not everything was my fault, but that didn't mean I could ignore it. Of course, I did blame myself for their sadness, but that was unavoidable. Of course, there was nothing I could do, since I was confined to this little bunker, which was why I had cursed Urahara. The bunker may have confined my reiatsu, but it was unbearable having to look outside and be unable to leave.

I looked at the clock next to the cot at about nine pm. Jinta had come by with some lunch, and dinner, but I didn't let him in. I wasn't hungry, and he just ate it himself with a shrug. So, I laid on my bunk for the rest of the day, waiting for the unavoidable time when I'd be sent off to the Soul Society. Urahara had come by, asking when I wanted to go, and I'd said nothing. He didn't say much else, just that we'd be leaving tomorrow, and that he'd be coming, along with Yoruichi. Apparently he'd had to set up a special senkimon and everything.

I didn't sleep so much as go comatose that night. I had the weirdest dream of playing strip poker with Hichigo and Zangetsu…

When I 'woke up', I did so grudgingly. The weird dream had given my hollow and sword both something to 'talk' about, and they were giving me a headache. I scowled and entered my inner world. When I entered, both Hichigo and Zangetsu were arguing loudly about who was better looking. I'd been seeing a lot of Zangetsu's less serious side, but the blue and yellow rubber duck boxers he was wearing was just about the most ridiculous thing I'd ever seen. Not that my hollow was much better. He was wearing pink and black, skull and crossbones boxers. They both noticed me at the same time, and I didn't even see him leave before Zangetsu was back, fully clothed and blushing redder than … dare I say it, a strawberry.

Zangetsu cleared his throat, obviously painfully embarrassed, while Hichigo just smirked and posed, still in his underwear.

_**"Like what you see, King?"**_ Both Zangetsu and I looked at him, horrified, before he broke into manic laughter. He pointed at both of us.

"You should see the look on your faces!" He gasped out, and I scowled, stepping forward and smacking him on the back of his head. He groaned, but kept chuckling. Zangetsu glared at him, before turning back to me.

"_… Anyways, what do you need Ichigo?"_ Zangetsu asked, his red face slowly clearing. I hadn't known he could get that red. I just waved my hand.

_ "Nothing, really. Just bored out of my mind and angry at the world. Nothing new."_ Hichigo stopped laughing to join Zangetsu in looking at me incredulously. I looked back at them, confused.

_ "What?"_ I asked. They looked at each other, and Zangetsu gestured for Hichigo to speak.

_** "Well, It's just… we thought you'd be a little angrier or something. You're taking this like a champ… it's weird." **_I shrugged.

"_I'm just trying not to think about it… at all. Anyways, It's not like I can really do anything…" _I stopped talking as Hichigo suddenly stepped up to me and smacked me across the face. I winced, and rubbed the red spot. He glared.

_**"Ichigo, you idiot. You're just going to give up and not do anything about this? … Not that there's really anything to do, but you're not someone who would actually know that!" **_I looked at Zangetsu, who nodded his agreement. Then I looked down. They were right, but I already knew that. I didn't look back up as I spoke to them.

_"You really think I don't want to fight it? Of course I do, but I can't. If I try anything… at all, people will just get hurt, and I don't want to be responsible for something like that. At least like this, everyone will be safe, and know I'm safe, and go on with their lives. I need to be out of the picture for any of them to be safe, so that's what I'll do. Besides, you said yourselves, there's no chance of stopping this." _ I looked up to them sharing a shifty glance. Immediately, I was suspicious. They tried to hide their shared look, but I'd caught them.

I ran to them and grabbed both their collars, not roughly, but serious enough for them to know I wasn't playing. I stared at the two incredulously, hardly daring to believe that they had something… anything. Zangetsu sighed, sounding defeated.

_"Ichigo… there might actually be a way." _

(_A/N And, now I hide. *hides* _

_Anyways, sorry for the ending, it's about 2 am as I'm typing this up, and I'm kinda just done for now. I'll try to have another chapter up by this weekend though.)_


	6. Chapter 6

_"Ichigo… there might actually be a way." _

Zangetsu's words made me do a total double take… also the fact that I had just noticed I wasn't actually holding onto Hichigo's non-existent collar, but a fist-full of his hair, making him squirm. I may have smirked just a little at that… on the inside. I prodded Zangetsu for more information.

"_Well, come on! Tell me! What genius plan have you two been able to hide from me this long?" _Hichigo smirked.

_**"Well, maybe if you asked nice-oof!" **_I cut him off with a weak uppercut to his jaw. He flew off the skyscraper… I winced. _Oops. _Zangetsu looked at where the hollow had flown to and nodded appreciatively. Then he looked back at me and closed his eyes.

_"Ichigo, by now you've probably heard that your unlimited growth is due to the fact you're still alive, correct?"_ I nodded, slightly afraid where he was going with this. He continued.

_"If we were to… change that, your growth rate would decrease drastically. You wouldn't be able to remain in the World of the Living, but neither would you be restrained to the King's Realm. The Soul Society would remain mostly open to you, with the exception of the __Rukongai, and the Soul Academy. Everyone else there should be able to withstand your reiatsu if suppressed enough."_ That made me pause in my nodding and look at him curiously.

_"What? I thought the whole reason we're in this mess is because my reiatsu can't be sealed." _Zangetsu shook his head.

"_Not quite. The reason it can't be fully sealed is because you keep getting stronger, so the seal breaks down that much faster. However, if your growth slowed enough, a decent seal could be made. It wouldn't be enough for you to remain on Earth safely, but enough so you don't disintegrate people with a thought. Think Kenpachi Zaraki's eye-patch, only ten times stronger." _

As I pondered that, Hichigo re-appeared, rubbing a bruised chin. He smirked at Zangetsu's last statement though.

_**"Yeah, and you better choose something more stylish than that piece of s-"**_ Zangetsu cut him off with a glare.

While they did their little silent arguing thing, I thought about what Zangetsu had said, and then it hit me. I held up my hands in horror.

_"Wait a sec, are you thinking what I think you're thinking?" _I asked, horrified. Zangetsu nodded grimly.

_"Yes Ichigo. In order for you to life your life, you must die."_

I, for one, found this request both horrifying and completely reasonable at the same time. While I would be restricted to the upper levels of the Soul Society, I wouldn't be completely isolated from everyone I knew. Of course, I wouldn't be able to see my friends, or family, back in the world of the Living until they died themselves. Of course, it was still a toss-up to see if they'd be able to withstand me anyways.

Also, as Zangetsu had elaborated after he'd 'spilt the beans' so to say, I'd still be stuck as the new King of the Soul Society, but I'd be able to visit the dimension I'd be ruling over… so it'd be less problematic. Hopefully.

I laid on my cot in Urahara's bunker for a little while longer after my little excursion into my mind, and pondered what my sword and hollow had said. I was still lost in thought as Urahara himself showed up and walked in. He bowed sarcastically.

"Well, your-future-Highness, I, your humble and handsome host, have come to escort you to the Soul Society." He smirked as he bent in a mock bow and ignored the shriveling glare I sent his way. I stood and followed him out into a temporary Senkimon he'd prepared. He gestured to it.

"Oh! What an amazing and totally unexpected super-strength Senkimon! Wow! With this, even you can't mess it up!" I growled at him, glaring even harder. He shrugged it off.

"Anyways Ichigo, with this portal here you'll be transported straight to the 1st Division's headquarters. Head Captain Yamamoto should be there waiting for you."

I continued to glare, but nodded and followed him through the gate. I didn't look back at the cavern; at my last glimpse of the World of the Living. As I followed Urahara through the Precipice World to the Soul Society, my mind wandered, and I wasn't paying any attention when he suddenly stopped, which ended with me running into him and falling on my butt. I sat there shocked; not by my fall, but by the fact that Urahara was still standing with absolutely no effects from me running into him. He looked down at me and smirked as he held out his hand, offering to help me up. I eyed it warily.  
"Don't worry Ichigo. In the Precipice World, any spiritual level higher than a head-captains' is nearly completely negated. Right now, you only have enough reiatsu to keep Zangetsu unsealed. I smiled sadly up at Urahara and grabbed his hand, pulling myself up. I dusted myself off, and then noticed the shopkeeper regarding me thoughtfully. I quirked one eyebrow at him, and he raised both of his at me.  
"What?" I asked, scowling at him. He hid behind his fan.  
"Well, I was just wondering how you're going to do it."  
This thoroughly confused me.  
"It?" He nodded.  
"Well, it's kinda obvious. The only way to avoid complete segregation from everyone you know is a rather drastic measure. I've only recently thought of it myself, but you seem to have already considered the possibility." This floored me.  
"How the hell did you know that?" I hadn't told anyone about my tentative plans, so the fact that he had deduced my idea was a shock. Although, if anyone would have, I guess Urahara Kisuke would have been my first guess. He always seemed to be 'in the know', even before anyone else knew that there was anything to know. He eyes crinkled in a smirk mostly hidden behind his fan.  
"Well, for one, you're still in your body." I nearly smacked myself for my stupidity. I hadn't even considered getting out of it; because that would nearly double the amount of reiatsu I was already spilling everywhere. If I had been in shinigami form in the world of the living, there'd be a lot more danger to those around me; even through Urahara's bunker. The shopkeeper snickered.  
"Don't worry. I made the gate like the one you and your friends took to the Soul Society for the first time. It'll let your body through safe and sound. Of course, you will probably have to tell Yamamoto about your little plan. If anyone find's out you've officially died, the uproar will be nearly impossible to handle without prior warning. If anything, I'd say try to keep it a secret from everyone, but you don't handle subtlety well… at all." He started to walk again, and I followed him, slightly behind, as he continued to speak.  
"I am curious though. How do you plan on killing yourself in the Soul Society?"  
I paused. I hadn't really thought about it yet, so nothing came to mind until I fully considered his words.  
"Urahara, you make it sound like I'm going to make 'the final blow'," Here I made little quotes in the air, "Myself. I don't really know what I'm going to do." He nodded, obviously pondering something.  
"Well, the only way to get rid of a body in the Soul Society that isn't a Shinigami or Plus is to burn it. It's been a long time since we've had to do anything like that. But basically the idea is to completely destroy the body so the soul has nothing to return to. If we just bury it, it won't technically die. It'll just wait for your soul to return to it." I nodded as he turned around to see if I was following what he was saying.  
"Anyways, if you're going to kill yourself off, you need to understand that doing so will make your power permanently where it is now. You won't ever lose it, but your growth will stop. You can still train and grow physically, but your reiatsu will never diminish or expand. You'll still be stuck as King because of it, but at the level you're at, the present King won't disintegrate. He'll probably just get sent to a retirement home in the Soul Society or something. He's pretty old already, so he won't last that long once he's outside his dimension."  
Urahara kept talking, getting more and more distracted as he continued on his current thread of whether or not the Soul Society actually had retirement homes. I personally doubted it, but I guess you never know.  
I was still spacing out when we finally arrived at a gate at the opposite end of the Precipice World, and came back to my head when it opened.  
I stepped out to see that it had deposited Urahara and I in the very middle of a Captain's Meeting. I froze, surprised, and waved. My hand froze however, as every person there bowed deeply in my direction. My face fell as I realized my strength had fully returned and they weren't exactly bowing because they wanted to. I tried my best to withhold most of it, and that seemed to lighten the pressure, at least enough for them to stand straight. Captain Kyouraku excused himself and Captain Ukitake, who'd succumbed to his illness, with a nod and smile in my direction as they limped out. Only the Captains were in attendance, so my hopes of seeing Renji and the other lieutenants disappeared. Toshiro nodded at me cooly, but it was more of a greeting than I got from anyone else there.  
Byakuya Kuchiki regarded me stiffly, Komamura mirrored him, but with less elegance, but I didn't get a glimpse of anyone else before Yamamoto started to speak, and my attention was focused on him.

_A/N_

_Okay! I have absolutely no words for how sorry I am with how late this is. I have a good excuse though. I was in the hospital with my best friend the day I had set to work on this. We were both their all day with severe carbon monoxide poisoning. Anyways, that kinda takes a while to get over. She basically collapsed, and only me and her were home, so I was sitting there trying to calm her down while trying to get the ambulance there… anyways, we're both fine now, but that did take up the only free time I had for the last two weeks. Anyways, sorry this is so short. I should have a little more time to write while I'm doing stage crew (I'm the manager!), but finals ARE this week, so don't get your hopes to high. _

_So, there's my excuse. Also, a new border collie puppy named Five has basically made my life a chore, but he's getting better. _

_Thanks to everyone for all the reviews, alerts, and favs!_


	7. Chapter 7

The old man opened his eyes only slightly as he looked down on Urahara and I, his face calm and neutral... even a little solemn. He lifted his cane just off the ground in front of him and brought it down with a resounding and unnaturally loud crack, and every head turned to face him. He glanced at me one more time and started to speak.  
"Ichigo Kurosaki, as you surely know, the erosion of the seal on your power has forced your fate. You are formally forbidden from the World of the Living, lest your spirit crush humanity." I nodded my understanding as he continued.  
"We estimate a week-long stay before the Guard comes for you. During that time, with your acceptance, everything possible will be done to attempt to stem your rapid growth." Here I opened my mouth to speak, but Urahara beat me to it. He pulled his hat low and opened his fan as he stepped forward. Yamamoto raised his eyebrows slightly but let the former Captain speak.  
"Ichigo and I have actually devised a way to permanently limit his exponential potential." I could tell he was laughing a little inside at that as he looked at me, wondering if it was okay for him to continue. I nodded, and he kept talking.  
"If his body is destroyed, fully and completely, he'd be dead, which would halt his growth." There was some muttering among the captains at that, and Yamamoto frowned as he spoke again.  
"Urahara Kisuke, you do realize that Kurosaki's death would need to be final and absolute, as with every spirit of such strength to match the King's. If he were to be killed and reincarnated, the damage possible would obliterate everything. If this is indeed your plan, do you understand exactly what must be done?" Urahara nodded, but I just felt lost at this point.  
"What?" I asked, slightly dreading the answer. Urahara had no change in his expression as he spoke, this time towards me.  
"We'll have to use the Sogyoku on your body."  
He said it so calmly; I almost didn't fully understand what he'd said.  
"What?" I repeated, this time mostly out of shock. The shopkeeper nodded slowly.  
"In order to prevent your soul being reborn even stronger than you are now, your body needs to be completely destroyed. The whole idea behind rebirth is having a bit of your original self as part of your new body. A few cells or molecules to tie you to your next body. The Sogyoku is rare and extremely effective because when it destroys something, every little bit, wherever it is, is burned as a whole. Any hair on a brush, baby teeth, nails, well, you get the idea. Every single trace of your physical body will be completely obliterated."  
I stood in shock for a moment before a thought came to mind.  
"Wait, that means…" Urahara traded glances with the Head Captain and bit his lip as I trailed off.  
"You'll never be reborn." He finished my thought. "If your spirit dies, your soul will disappear forever. Of course, in the Royal Dimension, time doesn't exist, so you'll live until a stronger soul appears."  
A whisper of "If a stronger soul than him shows up, there won't be any Soul Society left to rule." Informed me Captain Kyouraku had returned, but I ignored him.  
I don't exactly know why this came as such a shock to me, because I hadn't really ever given the matter any thought. Or, maybe I hadn't thought about it because I'd always assumed there was a back-up plan. Now that I knew this was it, well… the idea was much heavier. I was vaguely of my reiatsu slowly strengthening, but I was freaking out to much to care. At least, until Urahara poked me with his cane and I looked at him, then at the struggling Captains. I scowled in anger before I turned on the spot and walked out of the room.

I heard Urahara talking about having a strong seal made for me, but his voice faded as I walked. Urahara had told me about a specially-prepared room for me, and I headed there. I didn't see anyone on my way, and I was grateful. I didn't want to have to explain anything to anyone else right now.

It was just as I walked into my room that Urahara came running around the corner, disheveled and slightly out of breath. I paused; hand on the door, waiting for him to say whatever he'd sprinted here for. He straightened and looked at me with wide eyes.

"They want to do it immediately. The entire Kido corps has already been summoned to retrieve the Sogyoku, revive it, and release it. I'd give them about two hours, because it'll take a while to break Ukitake's seal. They want you to burn off as much reiatsu as possible in that time so you can be there as a Shinigami." I listened intently, but when he got to that last bit I frowned.

"How exactly am I supposed to do that?" I asked. He smirked.

"Well, my old training grounds seals a lot of reiatsu inside, which is how you weren't found sooner when you were training for Bankai. My plan is to lock you in there and have you go all out. Hopefully the old place can take it!" He said, smirking, prideful as ever. I sighed and let go of the door. Kisuke bounced on his feet a little as he led me out of the building and into an easy shunpo towards the execution grounds. I kept up with him easily, even in my body.

We reached the cavern in short time, and Urahara all but pushed me in before sealing the door with a strong kido. I landed on my feet beside the ladder and silently cursed the insane shopkeeper before taking out my badge and looking at it. It really hit me then that it would be all but useless after this last time.

In less than two hours, my body would be destroyed by the very thing I'd nearly given it up to protect someone from. I'd gained an inner hollow, nearly become one myself, to save Rukia from the very thing I was now giving in to. The only reason I'd even gotten my powers in the first place was to protect my family. I'd lost them trying to protect Rukia, and I'd gotten them back saving her.

But now, I was too strong to protect anyone. If there was anyone they needed saving from, it was me. I'd gained everything I needed to 'save the world', but I couldn't stop gaining. The idea that ultimate power is how you 'win' is a horrible mistake. I wouldn't change anything though. If I never got my powers, I wouldn't ever have met Rukia, or Renji, or anyone else from the Soul Society. Aizen would be ruler of the universe, and I'd probably be dead by now.

I had just decided that life hated me when Zangetsu spoke up.

"_Ichigo, your fate is what you make of it. You cannot change it, but how you view it may change the ultimate outcome. Treat this as an opportunity to better the world. Not many have seen nor accomplished your feats, and they have given you a perspective none share."_ Of course, the usual Zen teachings from my sword, but my hollow had his two cents too.

"_**Hey King, look at it this way. As far as we know, there's never been a King like you. You're barely eighteen, you have a hollow, and you understand more than you should. You have connections. Make it a better place for both humans and hollows. There's gotta be a way for you to figure out a way to make some semblance of peace with the remaining Espada, or there's gonna be another war. And with you out of the picture, there's gonna be heavy losses."**_

I decided that this conversation would be better face-to-face, and materialized both Zangetsu and Hichigo. Zangetsu was nodding his agreement with the hollow. I sighed.

"I know. But for now, I need to blow some steam. You guys up for some sparring?" I asked, and both nodded, Hichigo a little more excitedly than Zangetsu. I took a deep breath, and pressed the badge to my chest for the last time.


	8. Chapter 8

We didn't fight for long, but during the small scrimmage, we somehow managed to destroy half of Urahara's cave. When he did finally come for us, he looked around and put on a pathetic face as he took in the mangled rocks and holes in the ground, conveniently overlooking Hichigo's, Zangetsu's and my swiftly healing injuries.

We had practiced to see how devastating injuries had to be to affect me, and by extension, them, and discovered that it was harder than trying to get Kenpachi into a pink tutu. Long story. Anyways, we'd eventually found that I could only be injured if I actually made a conscious effort to allow it. Hichigo and Zangetsu weren't so invincible, but it took a lot to cut them. Healing was almost instantaneous, so I guess we were all but invincible. Thankfully, Urahara didn't comment, so we didn't have to explain anything.

While he 'mourned', Zangetsu and Hichigo disappeared, and I took a quick dip in the somehow-intact hot spring to clean off. Urahara came over as I leaned back in the frothy water, and I looked at him quizzically. He seemed to be staring at my chest, and I was more than a little perturbed.

"Uh… Urahara?" He shook his head, seemingly clearing it and grinned creepily at me.

"Ichigo, have you looked at yourself recently?" My eyes widened, at I was officially creeped out.

"W-what? Urahara, what are you-" I stopped as he pointed at me, and I looked down. There, seemingly imprinted on my skin like a tattoo, was a small black crest, with an eagle and a dragon fighting. My eyes widened at the new marking on my chest, and I looked at Urahara questioningly. He chuckled evilly.

"Well, looks like it's almost time then. That's the royal crest, and it's the actual thing that defines a new King. The fact that this has appeared means that you've got about six hours until the guard comes to 'escort' you to the King's dimension." I looked down at the mark and cursed.

Urahara bowed sarcastically and left me alone to dry off and get dressed. I did slowly, trying to keep my mind clear while I was getting ready. Urahara had taken my usual black outfit and replaced it with a, dare I say, god-y Kimono. The thing was a dark purple with gold embellishments and embroidery. The under-dressing was black, and I was tempted to just wear that. Unfortunately, Urahara showed up just after I'd slipped it on, and all but forced me into the ridiculous garment. I got to keep my sandals and Zangetsu at least, but my familiar red chain that usually held my sword against my back had been replaced by a simple woven golden rope, interweaved with black and silver steel threads.

I waddled more then walked to the Execution Hill, with Urahara snickering all the way. The robe caught under my feet whenever I took a long-strided step, so I was forced to all but shuffle my way through the deserted Seritei and up the stairs to the hill. We reached the bottom of the stairs and had started up when a thought occurred. I looked back at Urahara quickly, and he looked up at me with a curious look.

"Yes?" He asked, and my attention turned back to not tripping up the stairs as I answered.

"Well, I'm just wondering who's actually allowed to come to this thing." I said. I knew that because I had vacated my body only the strongest Shinigami would be able to stand it, but I was hoping maybe there was a way Rukia, Renjii, and some others could be there. Urahara seemed to read my mind, and shook his head sadly.

"Only the Head Captain, me, and some of the heads of the Royal families." My face fell as I listened. The only people at my 'execution' would be stuck-up elders, Byakuya, and an insane shopkeeper. Urahara sighed behind me, but otherwise kept quiet as we reached the top of the hill and began walking to the Hogyoku and the small crowd gathered around it. They all quieted and stared unabashed at me as I walked up to Yamamoto. He stood at the head of the nobles, with Byakuya on his left, with Urahara jogging ahead of me to take the position on his right. The nobles around me were organized just like the thirteen Captains at their meetings, and out of the corner of my eye I noticed some of them shaking a little under my reiatsu.

I looked Yamamoto in his squinted eyes as everyone else bowed shallowly.

"Ichigo Kurosaki, as previously discussed, the destruction of your mortal body is considered the best action in your current circumstance. It will halt the exponential growth of your spiritual pressure, and possibly allow the continued socialization between you and select deziens of the Soul Society. Do you fully understand the consequences of your choice, and the permanency of your death?" I nodded, and he exhaled heavily, not quite making enough noise for a sigh, but it held the same meaning.

"Very well. Please bring forward Kurosaki-Dono's human body." I blanched at the title, but paled as four masked Kido corps members walked forward, bearing my cloth-covered body on a wooden plank. The shroud was the same design and color as my new clothes, and shimmered in the light of the mid-day sun.

They brought it to the platform I'd destroyed during my first 'visit' to the Soul Society. It had since been rebuilt, but the scar from Zangetsu remained in the center in the form of a large black mark running through the Seki-Seki.

"Unseal the Hogyoku!" Yamamoto commanded, and the four kido members backed away from the litter and began chanting. My body, with the shroud still on, rose into the air and hung there in front of the giant blade. The ropes shot off and the spear changed into the Phoenix I'd stopped so long ago. I didn't watch as it reared back and screamed, then shot forward with a cry of triumph.

I felt my body die. It was like a fire in my chest that came, but then left just as fast. A sense of weightlessness made me dizzy as my body disintegrated. I began tilting to one side, but Yamamoto's cane supported my side, its owner shaking slightly from the extended contact through his sword with me. I regained my bearings and stood straight again, nodding my thanks to the Head Captain.

The shroud was the last thing to go. The silk caught fire and purple smoke billowed from it as it slowly fell to the ground, still burning slowly. I walked over to it alone and looked down at it as Yamamoto spoke.

"The shroud will burn for five hours. When it has been fully destroyed, the Royal Dimension will be opened and Kurosaki will challenge the King for the crown. You are all dismissed until then." As the crowd left silently, the Head Captain turned to me.

"Ichigo Kurosaki, please follow me." He shunpo'ed away, with me close behind him.

My surroundings blurred as I followed Yamamoto to the First Division headquarters. He closed the door behind us as I stopped in front of his desk, which he sat at after the door was locked. He motioned to a chair in the corner, which I scooted towards the desk and sat in. He tented his fingers and looked over them at me.

"Ichigo Kurosaki, do you know anything about what's going on in the Soul Society at the moment?" He asked, and I frowned at him.

"I wasn't aware anything drastic was going on, if that's what you mean." I answered, and he shook his head.

"The Second Division scouts have been reporting their findings on a group of what we assume to be rouge Shinigami in the outer districts of the Rukongai. So far, we've lost nearly a dozen scouts to them, and they seem to be raising a rebellious group of spirits with strong spiritual pressure." I scowled, and looked away from his squinted eyes.

"So, basically, you want me to clean up one last mess before you can't boss me around anymore." The old man had the nerve to nod gravely. I laughed sarcastically, but it didn't faze him at all.

"Kurosaki, you must learn to quell any usurpers before they become a major problem if you plan on remaining on the throne for an extended period of time." I couldn't argue, but that didn't mean I had to like agreeing. I glared at the old man before saying "Fine." And shunpo-ing out the door towards the badlands of the Soul Society, and around that, the outer districts.

The trip took slightly longer than it really should've, but I had to go a far distance around the lower districts to avoid any 'accidental damage' as Yamamoto put it. Of course, I still arrived much sooner than the old man had expected me to, so it didn't really make that much of a difference anyways. I looked at the special watch my dad had given me during my final days in the Human realm. He said it could actually withstand, but not suppress, my spiritual pressure, and even work in the Soul Society. Later, Urahara (who had actually made the thing) informed me that it actually used my reiatsu as a kind of super battery, so it would last as long as I did.

Anyways, judging by that, I had about three hours before the Guard 'came for me', so I took my time. When I did arrive though, I was met with nothing but blood and fire. Souls were scattered on the ground, some were still screaming, but most were just lying there, already passed on to whatever hell they were destined for. There were some people running around, trying their best to save their friends or family, but their attempts were obviously useless as even they succumbed to the inferno.

I couldn't really help until the last 'rescuer' had fallen. Then, with no one around, I stepped out of the trees I'd been watching from and released a wave of reiatsu, the resulting shockwave creating a small crater and blowing out the flames. The smoking buildings crunched under my feet as I walked carefully over them. The ashes of the bodies had been blown away by the shockwave, but I still watched the ground for any … remains I needed to avoid. Soon I stood in the middle of what had once been the 75th district of the Rukongai, and looked over the desolation towards the mountains of the 74th district.

I'd try there next.


	9. Chapter 9

The 74th district was in much better condition than the previous, so I was forced to keep my distance. I stayed in the outskirts of the town, out of sight of the outer 'wall' surrounding the town. I found a tall, thick tree and jumped up to a high branch about half-way up the trunk, and looked out over the district. The slow hustle and bustle of a poor town was unruly, but the spirits carried on with their afterlives the best they could, dodging mangy children that danced around their legs, avoiding the more suspect stalls and alleys, and continuing on their way, more than some missing money or other loose items.

One group caught my, and everyone in the vicinities' eyes, but I think that's what they were attempting in the first place. One dressed in a white knock-off kimono that reminded me eerily of those worn in Hueco Mundo, was standing on a table in the middle of the market, with seven or eight others in similar clothes mingling in with the crown that had gathered and muttering amongst the crowd. They were all wearing short swords I assumed were Zanpaktos. I grinned. This was easier than I'd expected. This was a good thing, because when I looked back down at my watch, I winced at the short amount of time I had left. Unfortunately, I was unable to wait for long for them to vacate the town, and was forced to resort to more drastic measures.

I jumped out of my tree, landing just outside the makeshift gate with a loud bang. Two 'guards' opened up a side door next to the main portcullis, and collapsed to their knees almost immediately. I frowned at them in concern and took a few steps back. That seemed to do a little good, and they raised their heads to look up at me.

"Hey, there are a few weird guys in there, right?" They nodded. "Well, pass on a message to get their butts out here and be ready for a good fight." Here I pulled a Kenpachi and smiled like a maniac, then shunpo'ed into the trees again.

I waited for about fifteen minutes until they finally came out. I had been wrong in thinking there were only a few or so of them. When the gate had closed fully behind the group, there were about two dozen people waiting outside of it, all with arrogant grins and swords ready. I smirked at their confidence, and let loose a wave of reiatsu that made them sweat and stumble. I shunpo'ed in front of them, not really caring extremely when a few fell to their knees. They all looked at me in shock, and I imitated Kenpachi again.

"So, from what I hear, you all are trying to rebel." I said, with as much seriousness I could muster, silently thanking the heavens for Yamamoto letting me borrow a spare black uniform in place of that ceremonial crap I had been forced into. I reached over my shoulder and grabbed Zangetsu's hilt, wanting my red chain back in place of the golden one I was still wearing. Most of the men in front of me trembled, but there were a few, the leaders I supposed, that still looked defiant and angry. They grabbed the hilts of their own short swords and pulled them out, pointing them at me. I sighed.

"Look, I really have to hurry this up, so how about you all just surrender and we'll call it a day." They literally growled, and I frowned.

"Fine, if you wanna do this the hard way, I would like a good fight before I'm stuck up there for all eternity." Amidst all the looks of utter confusion, I suppressed as much spiritual pressure as I could and dove into the crowd.

They all yelled in surprise, and tried hacking at me gracelessly with their swords, and only managed chipping them and even snapping one in half as they tried to cut through my clothes and skin. I emerged on the other side, and looked around in mock confusion, mocking them quite obviously.

"Wow, what a wind storm. Look," I pointed to my head. "My hair's all messed up." I unsheathed Zangetsu as they roared in anger. "My turn."

I hadn't swung my sword once, when suddenly, they all dropped. I stared at them in utter confusion, but I had barely begun to register their sudden withdrawal when the mark on my chest started to burn.

I yelled in pain and also dropped to my knees, one hand bracing against the rocky ground, with the other ripping my shirt off as I tried to find the source of the pain. The cloth seemed to burn away as I tore at it, and when it was gone, I looked down at the glowing-red hot sign. It was slowly cooling though, and as I watched, it turned the same color as my skin, leaving a scar in the exact shape the mark had been. I had been branded, and as a golden doorway appeared in front of me, I looked up and saw who had done it.

A blond woman stood in front of a group of Soul Reapers all dressed in deep navy uniforms exactly like the usual ones, just with a crest exactly like the one that had just been burnt into my chest stitched into the cloth of their own . All but the woman were wearing cloths over their faces, except for their eyes, which were staring straight forward as the formed two lines between me and the doorway and knelt.

The woman remained in front of me, but knelt as well. She was a tiny thing, although not as small as Soifon, but rather skinny and lithe, like a feline. More like a blond Yuroichi. I pulled myself up and stood, very aware of my shirtless-ness. She didn't look at me as she spoke.

"Ichigo Kurosaki, my name is Kirio Hikifune, Captain of the Royal Guard. We've come to escort you to the King's Dimension, and take care of these fools who've taken up your time." She turned to look at the group of rebels, just beginning to stand after the arrival of the Guard. They cowered as the two lines of Guards turned and began to converge on them, the rasp of swords being drawn grating slightly on my ears. The leader of the rebel group looked at me, and terrified eyes grabbed my own. I reached out and grabbed Kirio's sword, which was drawn and pointed towards the rebels. She let go of it almost immediately, grabbing her hand and staring at me incredulously. I threw her sword on the ground and re-drew Zangetsu.

"Let them go. They won't harm anyone else after this. And if they do, I'll take full responsibility for their actions. I don't want to leave with a pile of bodies as my final act." I looked back at the leader and sheathed Zangetsu. He nodded at me slowly, but then his eyes finally found the new scar on my chest. I groaned loudly as he fell back to his knees and pressed his face into the ground, bowing deeply. Why did everyone but me know about this stupid thing? His 'followers' didn't seem to know the reason, but they followed their leader.

I sighed and turned back to Kirio. The rest of the Guard had sheathed their swords, and she had retrieved hers. They were all looking at me. I took a deep breath and walked towards the gate.

"Well, let's get this over with."

The Soul Society disappeared as I walking into the black tunnel, with the Guard behind me, Kirio leading the way. We walked in silence toward a golden light as the gate shut behind us, leaving that light as our only.

As soon as the doors closed, however, a stabbing pain erupted from the very middle of my chest, and Hichigo started screaming. I gripped my head in agony as I fell to my knees, seeing red. I vaugly heard Kirio yell at the others, but no one came to me. I was barely able to comprehend why, but it might've been my utter loss of control over my reiatsu. They were running away, leaving me to my own pain. I cursed once, then fell into blackness.


	10. Chapter 10

I 'woke' with a moan, my head throbbing under a sideways sky, flat on my back against the inverted skyscrapers that made up my inner world. The clouds were dark, and heavy with rain, but remained separated, the sky outlining them black and foreboding. I clutched my head as I looked around for the source of the screaming that had brought me to consciousness, and saw Hichigo and Zangetsu at the edge of the tower, near the road that was the wall. The hollow was writhing in agony, screaming, with the manifestation trying to calm and quiet him. Zangetsu heard my moan, and looked up at me, panic only slightly evident in his eyes.

"Ichigo" He said, and motioned me towards him. I stood cautiously, not trusting myself not to collapse from the ringing in my head, and made my way over to the duo. Hichigo stopped screaming, and started shaking as I walked over, and flinched away when I knelt by the two.

"What's wrong?" I asked, as Hichigo shook harder. Zangetsu looked at me seriously before speaking.

"Hollows have never entered the Royal Dimension, since it has been sealed to them for all eternity. Since these events began, your hollow has been acting strange, correct?" I nodded, and he continued.

"Do you remember, while you were in the burning building, after he'd explained to you how hollows hunt, that he said 'I'm Cold'?" I was slightly confused, but the memory soon came back to me, and I nodded slowly. Zangetsu sighed.

"A hollow inside the King of the Soul Society is suicide. Your spiritual presence is basically poisoning him." I narrowed my eyes, wondering at this. Isn't this hollow, this sad thing quivering in front of me, the cause of most of my problems in the first place? Zangetsu seemed to pick up on my thoughts, because he growled softly before speaking again.

"You do not understand. If part of your consciousness 'dies', then he will cripple your mind. Hichigo is your anger, your passion, your 'dark side'. If he were to disappear, then all those aspects of you would cease to exist. The only way to retain them is to separate your hollow from yourself. In other words..." Zangetsu trailed off, but I finished for him.

"I have to let him out... as a separate being." The Old Man nodded, and my legs finally gave out. I hit the concrete with a thud, and passed from my mind to reality.

I woke, for real this time, under a blinding light, with a massive headache and a deadened, heavy feeling everywhere else. I tried to raise my hand to block the light, but it wouldn't move. I tried to raise my head, with the same results. So, I resorted to my last option.

My shouts were obviously heard, because barely a minute passed before I heard hurried footsteps, and a door being flung open, slamming against the wall. The harsh light above me was interrupted as a face with dark brown eyes and a jutting mouth. I would've jumped slightly if I could have moved, but was forced to settle with a slight twitch. The face jumped back, and I could hear its owner tripping and falling.

"H-hi... I'm Anata Tsuneni. P-please, forgive me of your predicament, but it was dangerous to keep you all open like that. We had to put a seal on you while you were unconscious. I-I can take them off now, if you want..." A timid voice that reminded me of Hanataro made me laugh silently. I closed my eyes and said "please". Tsuneni 'eeped' and stumbled over, releasing whatever it was that held me down. With a rush, all my strength flowed back to me, and I stretched, popping my back and arms. I turned my head to thank my rescuer, and nearly laughed aloud.

Anata Tsuneni was quite possibly more intimidating than Kenpachi himself! About seven feet tall, he was a well-built black man, with a white suit accentuating his eyes. I sat up and jumped off the bed I had been lying on, and looked up to my nervous rescuer. I looked him over again, and offered my hand.

"Ichigo Kurosaki. Thanks for your help." I said, hopefully nicely. Apparently not, because the man fell to the floor and pressed his face to it.

"P-please, Kurosaki-san, I do not deserve such thanks from the hero of the Soul Society." I laughed awkwardly.

"Don't say that! You're here, which means that you have enough strength to stand me, which is an accomplishment in and of itself... and I'm not King!"

I extended my hand towards Tsuneni again, and gratefully he took it and I pulled him to his feet. I released his hand and looked around. The room I was in was a white medical-looking one, with one door and no windows. I smiled balefully, and led the way out, Tsuneni following close behind. The next 'room' was actually just a long hallway, with portraits lining the walls. Nearly all of them were blank, except for the first four. Three out of the four held pictures of old, withered men, each more regal looking than the last, but the fourth was...

"What the hell? Why is my picture up here!" I yelled, turning to face Tsuneni, who quailed from my glare.

"I-I don't really know, but from what I've been told, e-each King, uncrowned or not, has their portrait done. N-no one knows how, or who does it, b-but this appeared yesterday, right before the guard came to g-get you."

I took a deep breath, calming myself, and apologized before opening the door at the end of the hall and continuing. The next room was a large and extravagantly decorated one, with scarlet silk drapes and a golden bed, with dark red carpet and dull, golden walls. All the furniture, and there was quite a lot, was made of a dark cherry wood, with bronze handles and fixtures. At the far end was a large balcony, and the walls were littered with large windows.

I walked over to the balcony, my bare feet sinking slightly into the lush carpet. A strange tingle went up my spine as I touched the wall, feeling the transparent barrier that protected it. I felt Hichigo wince in my head as soon as I touched it though, so I pulled my hand away quickly.

"_This is the barrier I spoke of Ichigo, and no, there isn't a way to get rid of it. The very existence of this dimension relies on this barrier, and even if it didn't, no one is alive today that would know how to remove it." _I sighed inwardly at this and continued onto the balcony alone, since Tsuneni had remained at the door.

I stepped out onto the white marble that the floor had transitioned to, and was surprised at how warm it was. Then I looked out over the rail and my eyes widened. Before me lay the entirety of the Soul Society, the Human Realm, and Hueco Mundo. Everything could be seen, but I have no idea how. I could somehow see every miniscule detail of each world, from the wandering hollow lizards, to the Captain's meeting that was being held in the Soul Society. It was like I could focus on one place and watch it, while still being able to watch everything else.

I stood there for nearly an hour, watching the friends I'd left behind in both worlds, until I finally realized something and anger overtook me.

I stormed from the room, Tsuneni trailing behind me fearfully as I made my way to a room that I instinctively knew the way to. Spirits I didn't take time no notice popped their heads out of rooms I passed, but quickly ducked back in as I stormed by.

After minutes, I walked up to the doors I somehow recognized. Two giant golden double doors were lined with guards, all of whom stood at attention as I passed, and remained there as I kicked in the door.

There, in the large cathedral-like room, sat the current King of the Soul Society. I was awestruck for a moment, before the anger dragged the feeling away and killed it. I strode right up to the regal-looking old man, and punched him in the face.

I bit my lip and cursed when my punch did absolutely nothing to him. He just continued to sit there, somehow looking down on me from below me, and scowled, hatred clear in his eyes.

"Ichigo Kurosaki, bow before your King before you loose yourself." He said in a raspy voice that sounded like sand. I laughed scornfully, and otherwise move.

"Yeah right, you crazy old bastard. I saw it. I saw everything." I said, ignoring Tsuneni's warnings against being so "reckless and disrespectful". The old man just stared at me, so I continued.

"That room, your room no doubt, has the capability of seeing **everything** in the world. I know that you look at it, no being, deity or not, wouldn't." He nodded, and I kept talking.

"Yeah, thought so. Since I'm right, answer one thing. Why the hell did you let everything happen! You could've stopped Aizen, and saved HUNDREDS of lives! If you acted, I could've just lived my life, and you'd stay King forever!" I yelled at him, but he didn't even blink.

I screamed in frustration, and grabbed the old man by his collar.

"You bastard! You better have a good excuse before I end your pitiful excuse for an existence right now!" I was shocked by my own words, but stood by them. No one made a move or sound until the King sighed.

"I could've, but I just want peace. If I get involved, they'll be bothering me non-stop about every problem they ever have. I am content with my own life, without worrying about theirs."

At his words, fury blinded me, and I released all of my spiritual pressure, breaking what little of the seal was left, and the building began shaking. The former King of the Soul Society started sweating and stared at me, cowardly eyes wide in fright. As he stared though, I felt my grip on him loosening as he slowly began fading away.

Shocked at what I'd just done, I got a hold of as much of my reiatsu as I could, but it was to late.

The old man fell to the ground, shaking, as he looked up at me, and I finally noticed how tired he looked. This wasn't a King. This was a poor soul who'd given up a long time ago.

"Don't bother yourself with the affairs of man or beast, for they are so far beneath you that they are insects. Let them go about their own life." He said weakly, but I shook my head.

"If you'd payed attention to **our** affairs, you'd still be alive." I said quietly, so only he heard me, and one single tear slid down his cheek before the King of the Soul Society faded away into oblivion.

I stayed silent for a moment out of a long-habit of respect, but was soon reminded of the situation as Hichigo started yelling at me.

"_**You crazy bastard! Now there's no King, well, until you find a way to let me out! If you even think about sitting in that chair, I'll kill you myself before you get anywhere near it!" **_I groaned aloud this time, and turned to find every member of the dimension in the room, bowing to me. I groaned again as Tsuneni stood and turned to everyone else.

"ALL HAIL THE KING OF THE SOUL SOCIETY, ICHIGO KUROSAKI!"

I shook my head as the roar of the small crowed echoed in the spacious room. I smacked my now-throbbing head.

"_Why am I king?" _

_A/N_

_That's it folks! Hahahha just kidding. This is only the beginning! Anyways, sorry about the short chapter, I just wanted to get this part over with. And I'm grounded for a month... because of an overdue library book... so I'll probably be writing a lot. Thanks to EVERYONE who has reviewed, faved, or added to their alerts! I really feel like you're all crazy for liking this drivel, but okay! Just a warning, I have absolutely no plans for any of the stories I ever write. I don't like trying to follow a guideline of any type, so everything I write is spur-of-the-moment stuff. So, if you're confused by anything, yeah, that's expected. _

_Anyways, I own nothing_

_Oh, and I'm still looking for a Beta Reader! I need help people! _

… _remember, Beta's get the chapter at least four days ahead of publishing... is that enough incentive?_

_Thanks for Reading! _

_- Jidt_


	11. Chapter 11

_Yeeeeeeesssss, I'm alive! *cringes under glares and waves weakly* It's been a while… but, here I am! Oh, and I've changed a small but critical detail in the story… concerning Kon… if you know what I'm talking about, you should be less confused, but if not, then it obviously wasn't a problem in the first place! _

_ At any rate, I do have a good excuse (moving to freaking Northern Idaho __), so you can't kill me! However, under the suspicion that some of you out there may not hesitate to at least torture this poor authoress, I now present the next chapter of __Why am I King?__, a Bleach Fanfiction. _

_ Oh, and just so you know, the time gap here is like the one in __The Count of Monte Cristo__ … you may never know what happened… (unless I do a companion piece or something). Enjoy!_

_Edit: Oops! Had to fix that… thanks to Mist Shadow for the catch!_

**1 Year Later**

"I'm serious, Kirio, I'm going! No, you can't come. Yes, I'm going alone. Yes, it'll be okay. He's been working on this stupid thing for months, and, while I can't believe I'm saying this, he's probably the only person I know who could actually pull of something like that. Yes, that includes Unohana. Now Good-bye!" I closed the gate possibly more forcefully than strictly necessary, but I was ready to get out of there. And, judging by the immense feeling of freedom and relief, it seemed like Hichigo was as well.

I looked at him pointedly as he materialized and stretched next to me, and he exhaled with relief. I raised an eyebrow, and he looked over to me, slightly embarrassed.

_**"What? This is the first time you've freaking let me out in over a year. I'll be damned if I don't enjoy it!"**_ He finished with a smirking glare at me, and I shrugged.

"Hey, just be happy Urahara found that kido to keep you separate. Would've been hell trying to figure out how to do this crap with you complaining the entire time." I returned his glare, and he shrugged and walked forward.

The gate from the King's Dimension had landed us in a grassy field dotted with wildflowers, which seemed to bow a little as my reiatsu pressed down on them. I frowned slightly, but reminded myself as to my purpose in the Soul Society in the first place. I felt my pulse race as I looked for Kisuke, and smiled when I saw his green and white striped hat poking out above a rather vivid group of flowers.

I motioned to my hollow to keep quiet as I all-but-floated to the captain turned shopkeeper, and stood right behind his sleeping form. With another gesture to Hichigo, I watched as he positioned himself right in front of our victim. I looked at him, we matched gazes, and both sucked in a deep breath.

"GOOOOD MORNING HAT N' CLOGS!"

We both yelled, then ducked as the unfortunate Urahara jumped away and swung Benihime in a wide arc over our heads. We laughed simultaneously, and I felt Zangetsu materialize behind Kisuke, with a small smirk on his face as he placed his hand on the half-awake blond.

"_You must excuse the poor boy. He's been lacking anything resembling entertainment for the better part of a year._" the sword-manifistation said with a meaningful glance at Hichigo and I, who both shrugged. Urahara blinked several times, then rubbed his eyes and stared at the three of us, and gave us his own smirk.

"Seems like you've adjusted well, Kurosaki-dono." He said, unfolding his ever-present fan over his mouth. I looked down at the purple cloak I was wearing over my usual uniform, and rolled my eyes.

"It's not like I have that much of a choice ya' know." I replied with a meaningful look at him. He just continued to smile. I tapped my foot impatiently, and he raised an eyebrow.

"Are we in that much of a hurry, Kurosaki-dono?" He asked innocently, and I scowled, even with my two manifested others laughing quietly at me with Urahara, and nodded.

"I've been waiting to be able to go back for a year. And don't call me that. It's annoying." I tapped my hand on my leg in time with my foot and glared at the amused look he gave me.

"_**You might wanna just do it, idiot. The angrier King-y here gets, the flatter you're gonna be." **_Hichigo pointed out, and when Zangetsu nodded his agreement, I realized my control over my reiatsu had slipped a little and some grass had been disintegrated in a circle around me. I sighed, and closed my eyes, reigning in the excess power I could, and opened them again to see Urahara about 5 inches from my face.

"Well, it seems you've actually gained a little control!" He said cheerfully, ignoring my surprised yell and jump back. Hichigo snickered, while Zangetsu just said something about my _"__abysmal sensing abilities_". I glared at the duo, who both just shrugged innocently. I sighed, and looked back at Kisuke, who brought the tip of his hat low to darken his eyes, the way he usually did when he was actually serious.

"Well, as you've no doubt heard, I've done the impossible! I've actually devised a way to compress your beastly pressure!" He pulled out his fan and laughed manically, not at all serious. Hichigo laughed along with him, but when I scowled in his direction, he settled for a smirk and wandered off with Zangetsu.

Finally alone with the eccentric shopkeeper, I exhaled slowly and looked at him seriously.

"All right. Tell me how, and make it quick." He grinned widely.

"Well, after making that breakthrough with Hichigo's issue with the King's.. well, your, dimension, I actually took a small sample of reiatsu off you, that was untainted by him." I heard a soft but indignant protest from the hollow, but ignored it; so did Urahara.

"Well, after days and days of sacrificed sleep and near-starvation from my dedication to my task," I rolled my eyes. "I finally found a solution! We've been trying to seal your reiatsu inside you, which would kill you! Instead, I devised a device to contain some extra! Not enough to make you all that small and humble, but enough to prevent any spontaneous disintegrations of anyone below a tenth seat." He finished with a flourish, and pulled out…

Kon.

Well, not exactly, but it was his plushie. No other thing in this universe would look that idiotic. Urahara put the stuffed lion in my limp hand, and I immediately felt a 'sucking' feeling coming from the doll and, to my immense shock, I could actually feel myself get weaker and weaker.

I let go of it immediately. I instinctively tended not to hold onto things that weakened me, even though I knew this wasn't that dangerous… I think.

Of course, when the small but noticeable bit of strength that had been absorbed didn't return when I let go, I became suspicious. Well, what do you expect? My whole existence kind of depended on me being stronger than every being _ever_… so losing some of that strength put my 'life' in danger.

Urahara just chuckled at my reaction, so I directed a small flare of energy at him, making him stumble. It made me feel better, on the inside. I smirked lightly as he righted himself and threw a smug glance in my direction, which I returned with a scowl.

"Well, if you'd do me the honor of actually explaining what my plan is before disintegrating me, I think you'd think better of me for it." He said a little pompously, but I just folded my arms and waited for him to continue on his own, which he did gladly.

"Well, I was thinking mainly aesthetically when I designed that little toy to keep any reiatsu it absorbed. I mean, it wouldn't do to have our King walking around clutching a plushy in public, would it?" I thought on this for a moment, and then shrugged.

"If anyone complained…" I left that hanging, and Kisuke chuckled.

"Good point, but not mine. Basically, the doll will continuously absorb any reiatsu it comes in contact with," I raised an eyebrow. "Hey, it was difficult enough trying to keep it from exploding to worry about discrimination!

"Anyways, it'll contain what it's absorbed, completely sealed off from any other entity around it, but still be able to absorb nearly anything thrown its way. The nice part is, the more power it's given, the more… indestructible it becomes, so if something threatens it, it'll be able to defend itself in measure with the amount of power stored.

"Of course, you'll probably want some of that power back eventually, right?"

I nodded sarcastically, and he smiled manically.

"Great! Come here!" He skipped, seriously skipped, through the field towards a small hill I had overlooked before. I followed, cautiously. When he did reach the hill, he reached… under it, (I guess that made it a fake hill...) and pulled out a small remote with a ridiculously large red button obnoxiously set smack dab in its center. I felt myself deflate slightly, but eyed the device warily.

"WELL, this little friend here will return all the power in that little friend over there to its original owner! … I think."

"You think?" I asked, slightly dumbfounded. If the power that thing contained was returned to someone less… deserving, it could mean a whole mess of issues I didn't want to deal with.

Urahara shrugged.

"Well, I decided this little venture of mine should be kept on the down-low side of business, so I haven't really had many test subjects!" He said, feigning complete innocence. I groaned.

"Are you freaking kidding me? Am I seriously your guinea pig for this?" He nodded happily, and I had to keep myself from throttling him.

"_Deep breaths, you still might need him… in the very distant future"_ I told myself, breathing deeply.

"Alright." I said, once I felt I could control myself. "Let's try it out." He smiled widely, threw the plush toy at me, and pressed the red button.

I caught the toy out of reflex, but tensed once it actually landed in my hands. However, I relaxed when I felt the bit of strength the toy had absorbed flow back into me. I looked at Urahara, who, it seemed, had expected something akin to a nuclear explosion. His kido-bomb shelter disintegrated as I looked disdainfully at him, not really noticing that the plush, while still in my hands, wasn't doing anything.

However, I did notice when he asked about it. I looked at the little lion curiously, then back at the shopkeeper.

"Well, I designed it not to absorb anything else once released, unless the button was pressed again." He went to press it again, but I dropped the toy on the ground, preventing the expected absorption. He laughed, taking his thumb away from the button, which remained un-pressed.

"You shouldn't drop something I worked so hard on, Kurosaki-dono!" He said, sounding hurt, but I rolled my eyes and picked up the doll.

"All right. Well, let's see how much can this stupid thing can hold." I said, taking a wide stance, as he pressed the button.


	12. Chapter 12

_Okay! Here I am, slowly dying from a killer cold that seems to be invading _

_my lungs. (not really... but it sucks.)_

_So, 4-day weekend, to do nothing but sit in bed and do nothing but write! So, after I get some stuffs out of the way, I'd like to do something I've been putting off for a while. RANT! (and reply to some reviews. If you log in, it's much easier, and faster to reply dang it!)_

_Okay. Here we go, in no particular order... and I'm only replying to those who've asked a question. All others, thanks for you praise!_

**Super saiyan Ichigo**_ – While I'd love to look over your story, I'm sad to say that I never really got into the Naruto fan base, so I may not be the best person to ask...* sweatdrop* But continue to read as I post and I believe you'll find your recommendations fulfilled!_

_**Naruto 32 –**__ I'm not really sure... :3 but if you go to your profile, you should be able to set it all up from a link there. _

_**TraLaLa**__ – (not so much a review, as a :) Come back! I miss you!_

_Special thanks to all those who've added my story to their favs/alerts! It really means a LOT!_

_Now, without further adou – which I have no idea how to spell... - here ya'll go!_

"Well?" Urahara asked me, eyebrows disappearing into his hat-shadow as I took a deep breath, steadying myself. The stupid doll had, surprisingly, worked; which left me with about a tenth of my original spiritual pressure. The sudden drain had been disorientating, and caught me off guard with how rapid the absorption had been. I shot the shopkeeper a glare, and he grinned slyly and chuckled.

"At any rate, I would put your current level of reiatsu at about a high-captain level. Enough to do damage, but not to anything you don't want to, save a few building that may or may not get in your way in a fight. However, I have to warn you; your body is used to your extreme spiritual strength, and will react negatively to the sudden decrease." I arched an eyebrow, and the coward hid behind his fan.

"Reiatsu is produced naturally, although over a long period of time. Since you're technically dead now, you won't be able to go beyond your top level. But, that means that when you use the little guy here," he wiggled the plush, "Your body will begin to produce more reiatsu to make up for the amount you lost."

"Which means?" I motioned for him to continue.

"You can only put any in the doll for about a week at a time, or else you won't be able to take any back, and be stuck at the level you're at until it fully replenishes itself, because with the doll, you either take it all back, or none of it. If you've already generated a substantial amount of replacement, you'd break your barrier trying to take it all back, and basically explode!" He gestured wildly, mimicking an explosion. I took a deep breath and tried not to kill him.

"So, you're saying if I wait a week, I'd have to let it come back naturally?" I said, but he scowled.

"I know what you're thinking, but it won't work. If you attempt to put it off for that long, not only will you not be able to absorb it back, your soul will eventually decay and collapse from a lack of reiatsu. The rate of regeneration is slower when the amount to be restored is larger. Hell if I know why," I looked at him in surprise... I'd never heard him swear before. "But that's how it works." I bit my lip and waited for him to continue, but he closed his eyes and sighed, remaining silent.

"So..." I started, then paused, in case he wanted to say something else. He apparently didn't. "Basically, I have a week to visit everyone before I have to come back and take it all back." I rubbed my chin thoughtfully, but Kisuke didn't take advantage of the pause.

"How often can I do this? I mean... AGH!" I shouted as the previously immobile shopkeeper jumped up and gave the 'peace' sign.

"We have a winner! That, there, is the golden question! I was wondering how long it'd take you to ask..." I looked at him, shocked, as I lowered my hands from their previous position covering my face.

"Well?" I asked, and he grinned.

"You need to keep all your reiatsu for about 24 hours for every week without. That way it'll have time to stabilize before you go running off without it again!"

I nodded. That made sense, right?

"Alright then. I guess I'll go put this somewhere safe 'till I need it. Thanks." I said, then opened a gateway into _my _dimension, but stopped half-way in when Urahara coughed expectantly. I rolled my eyes, but tossed him the note I had been hiding in my Shihakusho(1), and tossed it behind me, watching it fall into the shopkeeper's open hand. He looked at it, wide-eyed.

"You've been promoted. That's basically a copy of the key to the Royal Dimension. It'll only work for you, and one person of your choosing, who must be approved by me personally before being allowed in. Yoruichi is already on the list, as is Tessai. There's also a substantial raise for you three, paid in full monthly to your respective private accounts. The information to access them is in the envelope." I took in his shocked face with mirth as he opened the envelope and pulled out a small golden zanpakuto, the size of a letter opener, as well as three slips of paper with a sum larger than anything Kisuke had ever seen.

However, when he nearly dropped it in his sudden drop-and-bow routine, I rolled my eyes.

"Come on, Urahara. I really hope my right-hand man doesn't do that every single time he sees me. Tell Tessai and Yoruichi that if they do that, I'll deduct ten percent from their pay." He rose slowly, still shocked.

"I'll give you as much time as you need to celebrate. I don't expect you to be there constantly, just enough to help when I need it." I turned to step into the gate all the way, but paused as Kisuke spoke.

"You know, Kurosaki-dono, I really don't deserve this. I've done nothing, and I know that your friends would be much better suited for the job." He said hesitantly, but I shook my head.

"No, they really wouldn't. Their views are narrow, and I worry that their loyalty to me would make them more followers than advisers. You've shown in the past that you're willing to do nearly anything to achieve a goal, which makes you the person to ask about the harder issues." Stepped into the gate, letting it close, and leaving him with one more piece of advice.

"Don't sell yourself short, Kisuke. I repay my debts to those who deserve it."

I left the plushie under my bed (shut-up), and immediately opened another gate to the Real World before Kirio could sense me and find me. The light there seemed brighter than ever before, and I soaked it in happily, pausing to breathe it in before shunpo-ing to the Kurosaki Clinic as fast as I could.

I didn't arrive as fast as I normally would have, but I made it in a time that would've made Byakuya appreciative. I stopped short, however, when I looked at the house I grew up in, and found it... deserted.

"EXCUSE ME?" I yelled, making a few birds fly away. I was furious, mainly due to my ignorance of the situation. I stomped _through_ the door angrily, but paused at what I saw there. Everything was exactly like I remembered it, just covered with a year's worth of dust. I swept my finger along the top of the table that rested beside the door, and made a face at the grime before wiping it off on the same table.

I searched the house and found no one except a small spider hollow that kept watch over Yuzu's stuffed animal collection. I left it alone... maybe gave it a small crumb of a cracker I'd liberated from the desktop.

Everything was exactly the way I left it, which disturbed me to no end. So, I decided to pay one of my more friendly rivals a visit. I ran to the school, this time taking notice of the normalcy of the rest of the town. Nothing had changed there either except for a new road and a few houses. I dodged around the unaware people on my way, and took pride in my lack of physical contact with anyone as I weaved in and out of the crowd.

When I did finally get to school, I ran to the sixth floor, opened the door to my old classroom, and yelled, "ISHIDA!"... and got no response.

My eyebrow twitched as I realized, it had been a year... he'd be in the next class. I stomped angrily to the next room, leaving a bunch of kids scared of a self-opened door, and knocked quietly on what I hoped was the right one.

When it opened, I flash-stepped in, and hid at the back of the class before anyone 'saw' me. The look on my friends faces was worth is as they looked in fear at the empty doorway. Unfortunately, my supposedly silent laughs gave away my position, and soon half the class had stood and looked straight at me, before whispering loudly and incomprehensibly. I scowled, and they laughed. I guess more had become spiritually aware after I'd left, because I didn't recognize half of the people staring at me. However, the half of the class that had no idea what was going on started whispering too, and I rubbed my temples.

My friends, those who knew the whole story, realized what was going on and all ran out the door at once, headed to the roof. I laughed, and followed.

When I reached the roof, I was taken by surprise at the distance they had put between themselves and me. Uryu, Chad, Orihime, Tasuki, Keigo, Mizuiro, and a dirty-blond haired guy I didn't recognize were standing on the side of the roof opposite the door, and eyed me warily. I waved, and they all gawked.

"Hi there... does anyone want to tell me who this guy is?" I pointed to the blond, and he chuckled as the rest looked at him, amusement suddenly on their faces.

"Well, Ichigo, you took your body, and Urahara wanted mine, so I took a Gigai instead." He said, shrugging innocently. This time I blanched, and spluttered.

"K-Kon?" I asked, and he nodded, smirking. I rubbed my forehead, but sighed and just went with it... before I realized something. I glared at him, and marched up to him, grabbing his shirt in my fist. The rest of the group skirted around us, and backed up, making a circle.

"Kon. Where the hell is my family?" The silence that followed was broken by Ishida saying "That's definitely Kurosaki..." and Kon's shallow breathing. I shook him, and he broke.

"They were taken to the Soul Society! The shinigami wanted to keep them safe, so they took them there! What did you expect? That they'd leave the family of the King, who's prone to rash decisions concerning them, here to get kidnapped or killed? As far as I know, they've been made into their own Noble family, and have a mansion next to the Kuchiki's!"

I exhaled and released Kon. As much as disliked him, Byakuya would keep them safe. If I'd chosen anyone to look after them, he actually would've been at the top of the list.

Kon's scurrying to join the rest of the group brought me out of my musings to wonder at their distance, and the fear on their faces. I took a step forward, and they took one back. Comical, if it wasn't so serious. I held my hands up innocently and took a step back, and they relaxed a little. I looked at Ishida questioningly, and he pushed his glasses up his nose in that annoyingly familiar fashion.

"Well, we were told when you left that, at your level, physical contact equals death. Care to explain?"

I paused.

"Oh yeah... :)"

Ishida scowled.

"Well, Urahara invented this thing that is basically a container for the majority of my reiatsu. Right now, I won't be disintegrating anyone." I said with a grin, then had the wind knocked out of me by Inoue, and Keigo, who I clothes-lined away. He fell in a mumbling heap, and I rolled my eyes, then looked down at my new parasitic friend, amused. I hugged her back, since I'd missed her too, but released her after a few seconds, not really comfortable with the prolonged contact. She seemed slightly depressed, I didn't know why, but only for a second before that huge smile she had came out. Chad had walked over and put his arm on my shoulder, silent but strong, like I remembered him. Ishida shook my hand and welcomed me back, Tatsuki punched my arm and did the same, while Keigo and Mizuiro smiled (and cried like a baby) and told me they'd missed me.

I returned all favors, and told them what had happened after I'd left them, slightly furious at the S.S. For keeping them in the dark for so long. I left them, promising to see them all before I returned to the S.S., and they all went back to class, save Kon. I looked at the mod-soul, and smiled. He seemed extremely confused, so I decided to explain.

"Did you keep them safe?" I asked, and he nodded.

"Until they left. I wasn't allowed to come."

"Then you deserve that Gigai." I handed him an envelope like the one I'd given Kisuke, and he took it tentatively.

"I don't believe in servants, even artificially created ones. In there is your late paycheck, and you'll be getting another monthly until I believe you've been fully repaid." He opened it and gaped.

"And how long will that be?" He asked, slightly in shock. I snickered.

"Until I feel like it." I said, and he just shrugged and pocketed the King's ransom, (I couldn't help it...) and went back to class.

"Kon," I said before he shut the door behind him. He poked his head back out. "Thanks." He rolled his eyes and nodded, before winking saying "Hey, at least all the goddesses down there aren't attracted to you anymore. It's all ME!" and disappearing before I could decapitate him. My eye twitched, but I decided to put my anger to a much better use, and opened a gate to the Soul Society. I had some business to attend to there, and I had the feeling that it wasn't going to be that enjoyable... for them at least.

_(1) - Shihakusho – The shinigami uniform has finally been named! (Meaning I finally took the time to actually look it up!) _


	13. Chapter 13

Soul Society was almost as deserted as my house, but with less dust. The breeze that seemed near-constant there was ominously absent, as was any alarm at an 'intruder's' appearance. I took a deep breath and tried searching for any feeling of reiatsu around me, but my *ahem* lack of experience was a slightly crippling factor, and I couldn't get past my own little cloud of power. I swore quietly, and started down the main road of the Seritei. If anyone was there, I didn't see them. Even the eleventh's 'training' ground was completely devoid of movement.

Eventually I ended up in the very middle of everything, by the old Central 46's chamber, which hadn't yet, to my knowledge, been repopulated. I had to oversee that little detail myself, and, to be honest, had been putting it off as long as possible. What can I say? I hate politics.

A quiet snigger was all the warning I got before my Hollow and sword materialized themselves. I shuddered.

"Will you at least warn me when you two do that?" I asked grumpily. Hichigo laughed, and Zangetsu smirked as much as he could while looking dignified.

"_**Well, if you'd actually listen to us when we told you something, we wouldn't have to in the first place!" **_the doppelganger said sarcastically.

"Did you say anything I didn't listen to?" I asked, suspicious. He pretended to think hard, then answered.

"_**Nope!" **_

I held myself back from a suicide/murder scenario that would've been confusing, and turned to the sword.

"Well then, care to explain?" I said expectantly, and Zangetsu shrugged.

"_You seemed lonely._"

"…I hate you."

"_**Sure you do.**_"

"You especially!"

"Ha! I know!"

*THUNK*

Our um… conversation was interrupted by a rather large flying object smacking me in the face, knocking me on my back, and sending little Kenpachi's dancing around my head. It also proved rather comical to my two … associates, though I didn't see the humor in it.

I pried the stick glob of whatever-it-was off my face, and stared at the little girl that was Yachiru, her hair and face sticky with some sort of tooth-rotting concentrated sugar … thing.

My face fell. All my anger towards the S.S just waiting to be unleashed like a wild storm beast! … And I get a little girl covered in goop. Deflating slightly, I held her up by her collar and watched her struggle to attach herself to my person again.

"And exactly what do you think you're doing?" I asked, and she smiled, teeth glittering white in a way that made me question the universe's sanity.

"Ken-chan wants to play!" she said bubbly, and I dropped her and ran.

Say what you will, I don't care how strong I get, or am, if that man is looking for me, I run. I call it my 'holy-shit-this-man-is-a-maniac-and-trying-to-kill-me-someone-save-me-or-at-least-be-my-decoy' instinct born from a slightly frantic fear of crazy strong madmen who don't give a rat's ass whether they live or die.

I will admit to my cowardly actions like a man! I ran as fast as I could, and hid in the Tenth Division's office, behind a thoroughly startled Toshiro Hitsugya, Renjii Abari, and Rangiku Matsumoto, who all froze.

It took me a second to realize I'd found the missing majority of the upper-ranking 'missing' shinigami, then wonder what they were all doing here. Another second passed as I peeked out from my hiding spot and looked at all the decorations they'd put up. I remained there, as did the rest, until Kenpachi's monstrous reiatsu passed, and we all exhaled in relief, in unison. Only then did everyone react.

I've never heard such a sudden uproar in my life. Everyone in the room (that's about 40 people) all yelled my name and, surprise surprise, moved as far away as physically possible from me. I looked up at the ceiling, exasperated, and questioned the intelligence of the being(s) that may or may not have created the stupidity that is Soul Reapers.

"Guys, seriously. If you were gonna disintegrate, you would've already." I said, getting tired of the jumpy reactions of all my friends. They all looked at each other, shrugged as one, (this whole synchronized thing was getting _weird_) and formed a large huddle in which I was hugged, patted, and all around squished. Struggling for breath, I popped my head out of the crowd and yelled.

"A year! It's only been a year! Are you people that CLINGY?" All (at the moment) my anger evaporated in a small cloud that would hang over my head if visible, but I ignored it and just pushed my way out of the group. The majority realized the intrusion of my personal bubble, and stepped back, blushing slightly, leaving Ikkaku, Renjii, and Yumichika wrestling on the floor, oblivious to their sudden lack of cover. I coughed in the new silence, and they separated immediately, embarrassment obvious. I looked at them, and grinned evilly when they started showing signs of weakness.

However, my victory was cut short by Toshiro's whisper of "shut it" and I was left standing there like an idiot as everyone dove for cover. A dainty hand shot out and pulled me behind a couch, and I didn't move a muscle as Unohana Retsu smiled kindly and motioned for me to stay still. Of course I didn't move! Like hell I was gonna after being told not to by the woman who made Kenpachi cower under the same smile she was giving me.

Silence prevailed, but was interrupted by the soft slide of the paper door opening (I guess they must've been sound-proofed or something), and four sets of feet entered the room. I jumped as everyone leapt to their feet and yelled "Surprise!" but stayed hidden, per Unohana-san's… request. No one disobeyed Unohana. She is master; she is ruler. All hail…

I shook my head to clear the strange train of thought, but remained silent. Two of the four that had entered gave a shout of "Surprise!" too, and, though I couldn't place one of them, the other two were mind-numbingly familiar. Without really realizing what I was doing, I rose from my spot, and gave my good-for-nothing father a kick in the face he so deserved. Well, at least I felt he deserved. It made me feel good, on the inside.

He toppled over with a shout, and lay on the floor, stunned, while Yuzu and Karin, who I barely recognized, clung to my legs. Karin had grown nearly four inches, and her hair was longer than I'd ever seen her wear it. It was only upper back length, but it was still long. She probably wore it in a ponytail most of the time anyways. Yuzu didn't change as drastically as Karin, just a couple inches taller, but had a messy-looking haircut I immediately thought, as a big brother, made her look less like Yuzu and more like a trouble-maker. However, they were both acting like I remembered them, Karin threatening him, and Yuzu crying and demanding he never leave again. I detached them from my legs and knelt down, giving them a proper (clingy) hug.

I knelt there for a minute, ignoring the stares I was getting, until a certain someone regained lucidity and started sobbing about how much his grown son missed his perfect daughters, and my eyebrow twitched when he made it sound like I was in the wrong for something or another. Yuzu and Karin had both recovered enough to release me when they heard him, but I was beaten to the literal punch by a familiar midget I'd completely missed up 'till now.

"Oh third-daughter, why must you be so cruel?" The old man whined as he rolled around pathetically, clutching his bruised nose. Rukia Kuchiki held up her fist threateningly, and that's when I noticed the Lieutenant's armband around the raised appendage. I whistled appreciatively, and was caught completely unaware as she forcefully reduced me to the same position as my dad, but without the whining and rolling.

"Ichigo Kurosaki-_dono_," she stressed the add-on sarcastically. "How _kind_ of you to finally join us." Her glare was almost as terrifying as Unohana's, but that might just be my opinion. Although, judging by the majority of the room's sudden silence and innocent looks, I wasn't alone. I glared right back, removing my hand from my throbbing nose, and ignored her smirk.

"Well, it's not my fault! Besides, I'm here now, aren't I? Oh, and congrats on the promotion. Thirteenth, I presume?" I drawled, and she sniggered.

"Oh, you do presume too much good sir, but you stand correct!" she replied in the same faked accent. We both laughed, and apparently broke the tension, because the room came alive again.

Discussions of every sort prevailed in the room as I stood and walked to Rukia's side. She looked up at me.

"So Urahara got that thing done?" she asked. She was one of the only people who knew about it, so her knowledge didn't surprise me.

"Finally." I replied, and smiled, nicely, down at her. "What's the celebration for?"

"… Really?" She asked, shocked.

"Uh... yes. Am I supposed to know?" She stared at me, flabbergasted. I love that word… but that's not the issue here.

"Ichigo…" She paused.

"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?" She yelled, and the room went silent. She blushed, and apologized. I was still reeling, and flinched when she turned back to me.

"Uh…" She glared.

"Today's your sisters' birthdays." She deadpanned, and I hit my forehead. Of course I'd forget _that_. I rushed an apology in Rukia's general direction, and hurried over to where my sisters were sitting… in the middle of a crowd thick enough to block any sound of my forgetfulness. Thank heavens… is that self-serving? Ah well…

I 'ahem-ed', and was rewarded with a complete lack of acknowledgement. Come on. Not only were they MY sisters, but I was king of the whole freaking S.S. I felt I deserved a bit more respect, but I didn't really feel like ruining my sister's birthdays, so I just shoved my way through the crowd to find them both doing a little can-can dance with my Dad on a pile of gifts. My eyebrow quirked and I was reminded forcefully that I had left the manifestations of my sword and hollow with Kenpachi – alone- when they both rejoined me, and their exhausted yells and curses made me wince. I mentally apologized, then ignored Hichigo's uh… reply.

My family calmed down from their traditional happy-joy-present-time dance®, and I stepped in to hold my dad back from tearing into the gifts with the girls. Mainly for his own protection. Those two were wild beasts when it came to gifts. I blame him.

The Seritei had really gone all out for the twins, making me wonder exactly what they'd been up to in their time here. Even Ikkaku and Yumichika had given them 'gifts', though I don't really see Yuzu or Karin ever needed feather accessories or a book on doing the Lucky Dance©… or half of the other gifts they received for that matter. Oh well. It was the thought that counted… except for Kyoraku's gift of rather… disturbing literature I snatched away before they could really get a good look at it, and promptly burned with a little reiatsu. He just sighed and shrugged.

"Worth a shot." I shot him a glare. He ignored it.

After the gifts were received and thanks were given, most of the crowd dispersed, leaving me and my family with my, well, our closer acquaintances. Hitsugya and Matsumoto remained, as well as Rukia and Renjii, though Ikkaku and Yumichika left for a drinking contest with Kyoraku. Toshiro had threatened Matsumoto with all his own paperwork as well as her own to get her not to go, but it had just barely worked.

We all sat around and talked, well, I mainly listened. Apparently, when the family moved in they had been introduced to the entirety of the Seritei, and all those who knew me personally made it their responsibility to make sure they were happy and taken care of. In time, the girls managed to build up a reputation of their own, instead of relying on mine and pops'. Karin had introduced soccer to Shinigami, and division-wide contests were now held monthly. Yuzu had started a baking club, and I laughed when she told me how many of the eleventh division were in it. Apparently, the division you were in provided a cafeteria-like meal three times daily, and the eleventh was sadly lacking in anyone who could cook anything… edible.

The old man had basically sat on his butt the whole time, getting off it only to train a little and mother my sisters. I asked him if he had looked around the Seritei, and he shrugged.

"I was here for long enough to get sick of it before. Besides, the only reason I'd be out there would be to look for your mother, but her soul hasn't been registered yet, so it hasn't arrived." I shrugged, having done that myself during my, what I was calling, forced-isolation.

After a couple hours Hitsugya and Matsumoto excused themselves, along with Renjii, and my family. They all left before I could get a word in edgewise, and my eye twitched.

"Crazy bastard. I needed to ask him about a room." I said, before I noticed Rukia hadn't left yet.

"Uh…" Suddenly awkward, I rubbed my neck, looking at an interesting stain on the ground. I imagined her rolling her eyes, and heard it in her voice.

"You have no idea where they live, do you?" She asked, and I shrugged helplessly.

"I'd go back, but I'd have to use that stupid toy to actually remain there, and I don't want to wait a whole 'nother day to –" I stopped, the anger I'd forgotten bubbling up as I recognized the spiritual pressure that had just flared up close by. Rukia looked at me, realized what had made me stop, then nodded solemnly and shunpo-ed away. I had forgotten how quickly she was able to pick up on my mood swings, and how she always knew what to do in response. But as the reiatsu came closer, those thoughts were pushed to the back of my mind as I growled out the name of the very person I'd come here to, for lack of a better word, forcibly admonish and punish.

"Yamamoto."

_A/N_

_Alright! Two updates in two days! Don't expect this very often! _

_After getting such a wonderful response from the last chapter, I decided to whip this baby out. Mostly a filler-humor chapter, because I'm a jerk and like making you wait for the good stuff, but don't worry! Next chapter, and things will FINALLY start picking up! With an actual storyline! :D_

_However! I am considering getting said next chapter out tomorrow, but that means I want more awesome reviews and encouragement! It/they is/are LIFE to me! _

_Oh, and thanks to everyone who reviewed/alerted/faved the last chapter, and all those before!_

_Now that I actually have M. Word on my computer, getting the chapters actually posted will be much easier, and faster. So thank you Daddy for getting me it! 3_


	14. Chapter 14

_*twitch*_

_Really? Has no one noticed the whole Reiatsu-seeing in the Manga (which was a while ago…), and NOT thought about my idea? WHAT IS THIS MADNESS?_

_*cough*_

_80 reviews? How in the he- mmmmm…. Screw it. You amazing people deserve this!_

I was alone as I flash-stepped outside to meet the Soutaicho. He looked at me through slitted eyes, and I glared at him with enough fury I thought he would melt. He didn't, but I could hope. He bowed his head respectfully, but I scoffed. He took no notice.

"Kurosaki-dono, your arrival is not unexpected, though Urahara completed his work sooner than I had hoped." I smirked, deciding to give the shopkeeper a bonus for pissing off the old man.

"However, I request your presence in my office. We need to discuss some issues that have come up." He shunpo-ed away without waiting for my reply. This was probably a good thing, since my reply would've been to throttle him. I growled and followed, arriving before him, but only barely. My lack of reiatsu slowed me down considerably, but I was still pretty freaking fast, even without going _Bankai_.

When he did arrive, however, he sat in his chair at his desk, and motioned for me to take one in front of it. I remained standing. He sighed a long suffering sigh, and placed his cane on top of his desk.

"Kurosaki-Dono, your first ruling year has gone unmolested, but I fear of uprising in the Rukongai." I blinked.

"Straight to the point, aren't you." I said sardonically, and he ignored me.

"When you left for the King's Dimension, you were asked to do one last task before you assumed your role. Do you remember?" He asked, and I nodded, getting suspicious.

"It seems the insurrection of traitorous Soul Reapers was not isolated to that single area. The only reason we were aware of their presence was the destruction of the 75th District and subsequent confrontation at the 74th. The shinigami you faced were the rebellious rebels, who apparently decided the main group's methods were to slow and misguided. Since their defeat, the main group has made no aggressive movements we are aware of, but I was recently informed of a large but unspoken hatred and dissent among the souls of the Rukongai towards the Seritei and their 'Orange-Haired Demon King'."

He showed no emotion during his entire briefing, but I stood in shock when he finished. I never really imagined my actions before I was forcibly remove from this dimension was anything larger than an angry mob in-the-making, but the idea of something this big was disconcerting, but what really pissed me off was that this was the first I heard of it; And everything else for that matter. My rage had been put off by this new development, but returned full-swing as I forced my reiatsu up as high as it could go, silently cursing my current lack of power, and glowered at the Soutaicho. He just raised his eyebrows and opened his tiny eyes a fraction.

"Kurosaki-dono, you must realize anything you do to me right now would be rather pointless, at your current level." He said, and I roared.

"How DARE you speak to me like that!" I wasn't the sort to rub rank, but I was his freaking KING. And I'd realized as I learned what it meant to be King, that sometimes rank mattered most to those close to yours. Not that he was, at all, but he thought he was, which made me furious. What made me see red, however, was the utter lack of reaction my response got. I reached over the desk and grabbed his shirt, pulling him up and close to me.

This got a reaction all right, I laughed silently as he reached for his cane, and zanpakuto, and I let him grab it before ripping a gate open and throwing him in, and followed, sealing it behind me.

I reached under my bed, and pulled out the plushie as Yamamoto righted himself. I also removed the remote to control it from my Kimono, and looked at the old man.

"You dare delude yourself into thinking you could possibly match my level, let alone defeat it?" I hissed out, and then pressed the button. I didn't care that I wouldn't be able to return for another day, my rage against that man was all that mattered. He sank to his knees under my returned pressure, but looked up, surprised, when it all but fell from his shoulders. He was still aware of it, but wasn't in danger of it. I laughed derisively.

"This is MY dimension. I decide who gets crushed or not. And fortunately for you, I haven't decided on your successor yet." I spat out, and watched as the Soutaicho all but shook with shock, and I hope maybe a little fear. He remained on his knees as I walked to my balcony overlooking the other universes, and looked down on them.

"Where do they work from?" I asked, and Yamamoto coughed before speaking.

"Center warehouse of the 69th District. Heavily protected and guarded, technically doesn't exist on any plane of existence, unless you've been told personally how to access it." He answered promptly, and I nodded. That explained why I hadn't noticed anything strange before. I took a deep breath and turned back to him. He'd regained some composure, and was looking at me with nearly the same expression he'd always worn, just with his eyes opened slightly. He did, however, remain kneeling.

"Why wasn't I told of any developments concerning this or my family before today?" I asked calmly. This is another reason I'd brought his here. In this dimension, I felt inexplicably calmer, more collected, more reasonable. I still wanted to rip his head off with a toothbrush; I was just more able to control the urge.

He gave a nearly-perceptible twitch that was probably a shrug, and my reiatsu control wavered slightly, making him sweat a little. I was okay with that.

"We have never relied on our King to rescue us from situations below their care, so we had no reason to change that. The matter of your family being moved without your knowledge was for security. No one save myself, and the Kuchiki's know exactly where they currently reside, and we came to the decision that any communication attempt between worlds was to risky with such delicate knowledge." I nodded, though disgusted. His plan made sense, but that didn't mean I had to just lie down and accept it.

"How did you communicate with the previous King?" I asked. He shook his head.

"We didn't. He 'communicated' with the Central 46, and they in turn gave us our orders. We were never privy to such sensitive information." I closed my eyes and sighed.

"And now they're all dead. Brilliant. Well," and my day got considerably better when I felt a gateway open behind the old man, and I grinned smugly, opening my eyes again to see his reaction as Urahara and Yoruichi stepped out of the gate, awe on their faces as they looked around.

"I'll have my Head Advisor get right on that." Urahara looked at me, eyes popping out of the shadow his hat cast, then raising his ever-present fan and waving it at me. Yoruichi took it from him and smacked him with it, then started lecturing him about proper respect or something.

The look on the Soutaicho's face was almost worth going through twenty-four hours stuck here again… though I still feared Rukia's wrath when I returned, having left without an explanation. I won't mince words. He bugged out, and threw a hissy fit.

"Kurosaki-Dono! You – you mean to say this – this traitor is your Head Advisor?" He asked, for the first time since I'd ever 'known' him, completely flabbergasted. Urahara, who was covering his head from the Flash Goddess's bombardment, chuckled.

"Well, nice to see all my hard work in the war has gone completely disregarded." He said slyly, as he whipped his fan from Yoruichi's grip and spread it in front of his face. I frowned at the Soutaicho.

"You haven't pardoned him yet?" I asked, my anger at him quickly returning.

"I do not have the authority." He replied calmly, and I counted to ten before speaking again, forcing myself to remember replacing him would be too much paperwork.

"Well, I do. Take a note." I said, but raised an eyebrow when Urahara whipped out a notepad and exaggeratedly elegant feather quill and ink well. Shrugging and accepting it, I continued.

"From this day forth, Urahara Kisuke, Yoruichi Shihoin, Tessai Tsukabishi, Love Aikawa, Shinji Hirako, Mashiro Kuna, Kensei Mugurama, Rojuro Otoribashi, Hiyori Sarugaki, Hachigen Ushoda, and Lisa Yadomaru – are hereby pardoned from any and all consequences of unwilling Hollowfication, and assistance to those unwillingly hollowfied. Furthermore, if they desire, they shall ALL," I looked pointedly at Urahara and Yoruichi, the former of the two with ink splattered all over from his furious note-taking. "Have the option to return to the posts that they were wrongfully stripped of."

I saw Kisuke stutter slightly in his writing and when he'd written it all down, he looked at me like I was crazy. I shrugged.

"I'm not forcing anything. Your choice." I said, trying to hide how, dare I say, desperate I was to keep him as my advisor. I had been fully aware of my tendency not to think things all the way through, and I hesitantly admitted to myself, never to him, that Uryu was the expert planner when it came to thought-out things. You know, the brawns vs. brains thing. I was relieved when he gave a genuine grin and shook his head.

"Kuro-… Ichigo, do you really think I'd leave such a high-paying job to go back to that chaotic trash pile?" Yamamoto glared slightly, but everyone ignored him. I snickered. I gave a pointed look at the shopkeeper-turned advisor as the Soutaicho's reiatsu gave away his mounting anger and suspicion when Urahara mentioned his pay. He nodded, and, grabbing Yoruichi's hand and stepped out the gate behind him, which had remained open. I gave my attention to Yamamoto… well, most of it anyways.

"Kurosaki-Dono, may I ask where Kisuke Urahara's apparently substantial paycheck is coming from?" He asked suspiciously, and I laughed sardonically.

"What? You think I'd add a new tax or something just to pay the guy? Nah, the old King never used any of the taxes he received, which explained the condition of the Rukongai, so I've got a near-unlimited amount in a storeroom somewhere. Right when I officially got to the 'throne'," I made air quotes. "I got rid of all taxes save sales tax. You obviously missed that." I said, smirking at the man's expression.

"Don't worry. All Shinigami's pay is guaranteed for the next millennia or so, even with all the reconstruction going on in the Rukongai, and the *ahem* gifts I've been giving out." I rolled my eyes. Not that I had anything against the majority of Shinigami, really, just four or five of the highest-ranking ones. I mean, the lowest ranked one I knew was a seventh seat (1)! I took a deep breath, getting back on topic.

"I will be sending my own messengers to those pardoned, and I expect no problems if and when they arrive. I will also be sending one to the Seritei on a daily basis if I cannot be there personally. He or she will have a password, but will need to be asked the proper question."

"Which is?"

"'What's the problem'." Yamamoto paused.

"What answer should I expect?"

"Tie-dye hollows." I answered, making up the most ridiculous thing I could think of on the spot. It worked, I think, seeing his eyebrow twitch and his tiny eyes narrow.

"Very well. Is there anything else you require?"

"Plenty, but not from you. I'll be checking in in two days." And with that, I tore a gate open under his feet, and laughed along with my Hollow when he fell through it, completely taken by surprise.

_**"Well King, seems like you DO have a sense of humor! And here I thought there was no hope for you."**_ He ignored my inward growl at him, and sounded thoughtful as he continued.

_**"You said two days, but you'll be able to return in one. What's your plan?"**_ I was slightly perturbed by his sudden attentative state, but answered.

"I think I should welcome some new arrivals."

_A/N_

_Whoever guesses correctly gets a day-early chapter in their message reply!(even if there's more than one right!)_

_BWAHAHAHAHA_

_That means to win you must sign in!_

(1) - Hanataro


	15. Chapter 15

I managed to waste the required day of solitude by playing poker with Kirio, Anata, Zangetsu, and the Hollow, who'd bet, and lost on a bluff, the use of his name until we got to the World of the Living. Since I had had little else to do in my, what I call, 'year of solitude', I had, in my opinion, gotten quite good at the game. Of course, I still lost to the three older and more experienced souls quite fantastically. Although, to be fair, the only reason I lost was because I wasn't skilled enough to cheat with a straight face like those two ungrateful little…

Anyways, Anata won a raise, Zangetsu won the Hollow's name from me, and Kirio would be accompanying me on my trip. I didn't tell her where to, because she'd insist on bringing her little army, which would end with me just flailing around like a madman and going alone, thereby breaking our bet, and I'd end up dancing the can-can in my underwear… long story, but I wasn't going to take that chance.

We all retired; the Hollow and Zangetsu fading back into my head. I lay in bed, thankful Anata and Kirio had taken to my darker side so readily. All I really had to do was explain to them what the whole story behind him was, and they immediately saw the advantage of having a hollow, and with it, hollow powers.

I drifted off to the quite rustle of the leaves of the ever-present garden and balcony outside my window. I awoke, however, to a sullen grey and cloudy sky outside the window. This completely baffled me. I mean, an entire year had gone by, and there had never been so much as a cloud, let alone the writhing tempest that was getting ready to unleash hell right outside my room. I must have stood there for a good while, because eventually I distantly heard a knock, which turned to pounding loud enough to knock me from my daze.

I shook my head and headed to the door, pulling it open at the exact moment Kirio had meant to kick it. I, of course, ended up doubled over and gasping for a semblance of breath. I don't care how effing powerful you are. Getting kicked in one's nether regions is not something that can be shrugged off. Kirio, of course, was nearly having a fit trying to decide if she should apologize or laugh… but because she was all but drowning in mirth by the time I could see straight again, I think she decided on the latter.

I clawed my way to an upright position with the help of Zangetsu (sword-form) by the time Anata appeared to see what the commotion was, and wisely chose not to mention anything. Kirio managed to pull herself together, barely, when I gave her my best death glare, but I decided not to pursue the matter… I did NOT want to re-live that experience. She smirked as she handed what had formerly been Kon to me, and didn't drop the expression when I threw the thing back and told her to take care of it. The lazy lout just handed it over to Anata and told him to take care of it. I rolled my eyes, but decided to trust the kid. I mean, poor guy couldn't string together an entire sentence without stuttering. What's the harm?

I pushed away the small nagging voice that insisted that my thinking such tempting thoughts was worse than just inviting fate or whatever to 'do its worst', and stepped into the brewing storm outside my room, Kirio following close behind. I rolled my eyes.

"Come on, it's not like I'd go back on a bet. You should know me better than that!" I joked, but she just quirked an eyebrow.

"Kurosaki-dono, it's because I know you that I half-expect some portal or something to open up at any moment and suck you into some alternate dimension or something."

… I had nothing to say to her after that. I mean, heck. It's like she read my mind.

I just beamed at her startled face when what she had just described actually occurred. A black mouth-looking rip appeared right next to me, and I let the pressure from the Garganta pull both of us in. Yes, I could've just walked in all normal-like, but where's the fun in that?

We landed on a hastily-made platform in the blackness, and I dodged my Lieutenant's ever-threatening foot, backing away onto a separate platform.

"Sorry! It was just too tempting!" I said hastily, trying to sate the fuming woman, who took a deep breath. I could see her mouthing something that looked like 'you can't kill the king' a couple times, but then she opened her eyes and looked around, and I could visibly see her resolve to leave me alive fading away.

"Kurosaki-dono?"

I nearly flinched. Her voice was one that I had become accustomed to eventually… it was usually followed by anger and violence. Not particularly in that order.

"Yes?" I offered her in rebuttle, trying to remind her (and myself) who was really in charge here.

"Please explain why we're en route to Hueco Mundo."

It was all her. I had no authority here. My dominance was zilch. I. Was. Dead. I scratched the back of my head nervously, looking anywhere but her.

"Well, I've been discussing with the duo (Hichigo and Zangetsu) what we should do about the problem with the rebellious Soul Reapers, and they, surprisingly, agreed that we couldn't do anything without more information. So… I asked the hollows to keep an eye out."

Kirio looked ready to murder and pillage, wielding fire and death in one hand, my severed head in another. It made me wish I hadn't just sealed away most of my power. I decided to do something that I thought was intelligent. I decided to change the topic to the weather.

"Uh… what was the deal with that storm today?" I asked, trying to gauge her reaction to the abrupt change of subject. She did a literal double-take, which looked pretty dang funny from someone who was usually so… sure.

"Excuse me?"

"The storm. Outside. This morning." I said slowly, which was probably a stupid move on my part. Oh well. She raised her eyebrow questioningly.

"This morning was clear, as always, Kurosaki-dono." She said hesitantly, and I scowled.

"Then what was that?" I asked. This had come up a bunch. Apparently the Spirit King, me, had special abilities to perceive things in their realm that no one else could. Heck if I know why, but Kirio seemed to be the walking encyclopedia of these annoying little tidbits. So when she frowned, I knew it was something bad, and waited for her to reply.

"Well, it's been said that the King's perception of his dimension is based upon the condition of the other realms. If there's a storm you're seeing, then there's a figurative storm brewing somewhere. And if it's bad," she paused and looked at me.

"It was." I answered her unasked question. She grimaced.

"Then there's something big getting ready to unleash something bad." She said dramatically, but was slightly put off when I just nodded calmly. I looked at her and shrugged.

"I assumed something was getting riled up somewhere, hence this little visit." Oh… crap. I had somehow segwayed my way back into the topic I had been trying to avoid. Someone out there must hate me or something.

Oddly though, Kirio didn't get violent at the resurgence of the topic. She just nodded.

"Well, I do suppose that this is something only you would do. Trying to keep connections in all realms… something new, but I guess if anyone would try, it would be you." She shook her head slowly, and started making her way towards the only original light source in the black, forming a smooth glossy surface underneath her. I was not jealous; I was just admiring fine control. My own path as I followed her looked like a rocky trail that had subject to a few to many mudslides. I was never going to be able to do this right, was I.

Giving a small, inaudible sigh of defeat I would later deny, I followed Kirio into the light.

_All Right! Well, I'm alive, and slightly disappointed. No one guessed! Okay. Tell you what. If you know now, then say so! If I get 5 people who get it right, next chapter shall be up in two days! _

_And sorry for the wait, slight grounding and technical issues inhibited the production of this short chapter. I just wanted to get SOMETHING out so I could at least say I tried. _


End file.
